Illusions
by RedHeadReader22
Summary: Annabeth is tired of not knowing, but now with Percy's help she can figure it out. But knowledge comes with a cost, and as Percy and Annabeth become entangled in the inner workings of what lead to their friends death, they don't know if they can pay the price. As the pieces come together and unresolved feelings bubble to the surface, they realize their world has a lot to hide.
1. Prologue

**A/N: Hey Guys, I am finally back after what felt like an infinitely long hiatus. To those of you who are still waiting for a Falling For You update, I am really sorry but I don't think that is happening any time soon. When I was writing that fanfiction, everything after the prologue just felt and sounded like a piece of crap. It felt like a chore to write even a sentence, and I owe it both to you the reader, and to me the author to not put you through that. Maybe someday I will rewrite it, but not right now. On a more positive note, I have my new story** ** _Illusions_** **I am really excited to be sharing this with you. I have been toying with this plotline for a while and I am really excited to be finally writing it.**

 **I am on summer break right now, so chapters will be much easier to write, but I have school in the fall, and for those of you who are in high school you understand how much workload is placed on us. I also have swimming so it will be hard to update. I will update every two or three weeks, and sooner if I can. There may be some times where I don't update for more than a month, and it's not that I don't want to write, but more of a I don't have any time. I will try my very best to finish this fan fiction unless my writing becomes even more atrocious than normal.**

 **Make sure to follow me, my story, favourite me or my story, comment, PM, read or whatever you feel like. I love feedback both positive and negative, just try not to write anything that will make me cry for hours on end. (20 minutes max). (I'm kidding please don't make me cry, I'm just a teenage girl). Seriously though, I read every single comment over and over to the point where it gets a little creepy. Anyways, sorry for the megalong Author's Note, I'll try to keep them shorter. Without further adue here is the first chapter of** ** _Illusions._**

 **Disclaimer: I don't own any of the Percy Jackson characters, plots, etcetera excetera. I only own the plot to this story and a pair of very comfortable sandals.**

 **Prologue**

William Shakespeare once said, "Hell is empty, and all the devils are here." At first I thought this was absurd, but now, I'm starting to believe him.

The world is a complicated, terrifying place sometimes. We have to deal with things that we have never had to deal with before. We're feeling our way through life, blindly searching for something. Half the time we don't even know what that something is. Some people think that we're searching for safety, success, or happiness. If it's happiness that we're trying to find then I'm not so convinced that we're going to get it. With all the bad going on in the world it's hard to think that there is anything left that is good.

I know what you're probably thinking. What is this sick twisted girl babbling on about? She doesn't know pain, she doesn't know fear or sadness. But the thing is, I do.

I have a better understanding of pain and grief than of happiness and contentment. I know the creeping feeling of depression better than I know the back of my own hand. Life is a twisted card dealer with a fetish for handing out fucked up cards, and I have been dealt a full house.

It's hard to know when exactly my life started spiraling downwards. One day I was completely normal, oblivious to the terrors that hid behind the thin wall of my reality. I suppose that I was never completely normal, the pedestal that I was knocked off of wasn't as high as I thought. But then one day it all changed. The paper thin walls were torn down and I had a clear view of what really went on. I used to see small fragments of the horrors from the cracks in the walls. Now, I have a full view, and I don't like what I see.

No one knows exactly when it all began. When I went from the whole, if not slightly superficial person that I was, to a broken empty shell. Different people each have their own theories of what exactly went wrong. My mom and brother, even my therapist have different ideas, and believe that if somehow they can find the root of the problem, they can help me.

My brother believes that it began the day the first note appeared in my locker. My mother completely disagrees with him, convinced that it started the day that Silena Beauregard drove her car off of the freeway hurtling to her quick but gruesome death.

But I know better. I know that all of this, this brokenness for lack of a better word began a long while before that. All of this pain and grief and whatever else I have had to endure began the day Percy Jackson first walked into my life.

I met Percy Jackson in middle school, and it was then that I realized that I hated him. We were polar opposites, I was level headed and practical, while he was impulsive and irrational. He knew of my disdain for him and sought to make my life miserable. I suppose that in a way I encouraged him, after all I never really tried to stop it.

His schedule could be filled to the brim, it seemed like he didn't have a spare second in the day, yet he still sought to make my life awful. It gave him a special glee when he succeeded. Watching my blood boil was better than any sort of pleasure that he could receive, or so I thought. Making someone miserable was an art, and Percy Jackson had perfected it. It wasn't just me that he broke, many people became anguished from the Jackson charm.

Percy was a player, to put it simply. I suppose that's why I detested him so. He would feed off of the longing of innocent girls, reeling them in slowly, then once he got what he wanted he would drop them. No one ever blamed him. No, Percy Jackson, the God of Goode High was nothing short of perfection. All of the guys wanted to be him, all the girls, and even some of the guys, wanted to be with him. I don't think any of them realized exactly who he was. I don't even think that he knew who he was. Maybe that's what made him do all of those things.

Percy's life was nothing short of hell, even before everything happened. He was miserable and he believed that the only way to be less miserable was to drag everyone else into the darkness that he had become accustomed to. So he would play those girls. It was an art really. I watched from afar as girl after girl found their way to him, believing that she would be the one to change Percy Jackson. He would let them think that, and once they were in deeper than they could handle, he would throw them away as if they were a shirt that was no longer in style.

When he would break those girls they would never blame themselves. It was their fault that he hurt them, never his. I pitied them. I pitied the spineless fools who got entangled in Percy's web. I pitied them because I was one of them.

Percy Jackson was a selfish, narcissistic sadist, but that didn't stop me from loving him. Every time I thought that I was done with him, I'd get a glimpse of someone completely different, a person worth loving, and I would come crawling back like the naive girl I was. That naive girl died a long time ago, and I have no idea what lives inside of me now.

Percy Jackson was an enigma that I found myself trying and failing to decipher. He was sick and twisted, and I was exactly the same, I just didn't know it yet. I guess that was what drew me to him. The thrill, the mystery. I craved mystery like an addict craved their fix. Or at least I thought I did. It wasn't until my entire life became a mystery, the point when I couldn't decipher between reality and illusion that I realized how much I craved the normality of my old life.

Like I said, it wasn't always like this. There was a time when my biggest worry was whether or not the grade I scored on a test would be acceptable to my mother. I was so caught up in my whirlwind of petty self righteousness that I failed to notice the horrors that wrapped around me.

The person I am now, what I am, and what I believe in didn't only change because of the string of events that occurred during my senior year. Before that there were little shifts. It's like those mechanisms at a train station that connect certain tracks so that the train can switch to a different path. The day my father left my mother, was a switch to another track. The day Percy came into my life for the first time was another. The day I realized I loved him, that was a big switch to another track. It wasn't until the accident, the notes, and the mystery that ensued that the final switch happened. I switched from the tracks that would have lead me to an ordinary life, to the tracks that lead me to the enigmatic life that I now dwell in.

I don't miss the person that I was. I may be dispirited and hurt, but at least I'm not the egotistical naive girl that believed that good things happened to good people and karma would sort everything out. Good things don't happen to good people, bad things happen to them.

Good people are so annoying with their optimistic ways, it's emotionally and physically draining. Good people get hurt, and sometimes the bad people remain unscathed. The bad guys win sometimes, and the heroes don't rise. If you still believe that good will prevail then I urge you to stop reading, please, live in this little bubble that you're surrounded in for as long as possible.

I once lived in a bubble where I thought people had what was coming to them. I thought most everything was black and white, right and wrong. But you see, in between black and white is grey. There are so many shades of grey that it would take forever to count them. If you think that there are fifty of these shades of grey then oh my god put down the damn erotic novel because you have it so wrong. There are so many shades of grey, you can't possibly count them. Nothing can be black and white, we have these shades of grey, because they represent perspective.

Nothing is ever right or wrong to the same two people because there is always the matter of perspective. To a drunk a 10am brandy is completely okay, but to a bible thumping Christian it is most certainly not. Perspective gets in the way of everything, the nasty little ass. Wars are fought, crimes are made, all because everyone is trying to define the shades of grey, the perspective.

My perspective has changed so much over such a short period of time that my shades of grey could be completely different colours. I've become so aware of all the bad that goes on in the world that I have almost forgotten the good. Ordinary people go around, oblivious to all of these terrors, but I have a clear view of it.

Sometimes, I miss the obliviousness of it all. I miss the mundane ways that I used to participate in, but I don't think I could go back to them. Things have changed too much, I have changed too much. It wasn't long ago, infact it was only just over a year ago that everything really changed. The day that Percy Jackson waltzed back into my life and decided to make it a living hell.

 **A/N: AAAAHHHHHHH! So now that I'm calm(ish) that was the prologue of Illusions. Obviously, thanks Captain Obvious! Sorry, I only speak sarcasm, I'm thinking of teaching a class to help people become fluent in it. I'll call it "Wow, you want to be bilingual, that's great," (Get it, because the title of the class is going to be sarcastic!)**

 **Anyways, thank you so much for reading. Make sure to follow, favourite, comment, whatever on my story. You are all so great, and I will try to post soon!**

 **-Xoxo RedHeadReader22**


	2. The Beginning

**A/N: Hey guys, I'm back! I'm currently on vacation right now so it's been kind of hard to update, but I have wifi now so I'm good! I was going to post a chapter before I left but I suffered from a terrible writers block and everything I wrote was just awful. Seriously though, I rewrote the intro to this literally twenty times. No joke. Anyways, I'm going to try to keep this short so I'll finish up in a second.**

 **Thanks to all that have read, followed, favourited, whatever to this story or any of my stories in general. It's greatly appreciated. Please review, even if it's criticism. I love to read all the reviews you guys leave me! So feel free to give your opinion, predictions, ideas exc. I always take them into consideration when I'm writing.**

 **Finally, I'm looking for a beta to edit my story, and provide feedback. If you are a beta or can become a beta PLEASE PM ME! I am desperate, honestly. Sorry for the super long intro, thanks again for everything, and without further adue here is the next chapter of Illusions!**

 **Disclaimer: I don't own the Percy Jackson Series, or any of the characters, Rick does. If you don't believe me google it.**

I lean against the lockers, glancing over at Thalia who's sporting an expression of fatigue on her blemish free face. The morning has progressed in a sort of monotone fashion. Students trickle in from the double doors at the end of the hall as the chiming of the first bell approaches. Making no attempt to socialize with my small friend group I stare at the ground, my worn grey converse suddenly becoming fascinating.

The noise in the halls begins to grow, and I massage my temples, already anticipating exactly what this school year will entail. Katie murmurs something to me, thinking that I am listening. When I make no effort to respond Thalia jabs me with her elbow lightly, and I look up to see Katie, waiting expectantly for my answer. A small bashful smile begins to grow on my face and Katie rolls her light green eyes affectionately.

"It's so serene right now," Katie says. I nod my head in agreeance. Despite the chatter the morning is calm. There's no yelling and screaming down the halls, just quiet speech that only the first day of school can bring.

We stand together silently, unable to come up with anything to say. Finally, Silena breaks the silence.

"Don't you think that it's weird that this is our last year, and this is our last first day. After this year we never have to come back."

I give her a small smile.

"Yeah I guess it is," and it is, but not in a bad way. It's going to be weird not seeing Thalia and Katie and Silena around wherever I go, but at the same time I'm never going to see most of these people again. High School has been nothing short of hell for me. It's been mostly terrible times with a few bearable moments. Honestly I think that it's not ending fast enough.

Katie and Silena resume conversation, talking about some new plant that makes your skin clearer or something. Thalia stands beside me, leaning casually against the lockers while she fidgets with the charms of her black, studded, leather bracelet.

Thalia, clad in black leggings, combat boots, and a loose fitting 90s band tee shirt comes across as emo or goth to those who don't know her. She's not either or these, or even badass like she thinks she is. She's Thalia, her own category. She's completely unique, while I am inexplicably boring and ordinary.

Thalia bends down a little to whisper quietly into my ear.

"Has he got here yet?" she asks, knowing that I will know exactly who she's talking about. I do, and I crinkle my nose in disgust at the thought of him.

"No. It's so peaceful, he can't be here. You know him, he can turn a bunch of normal, if not slightly hormonal teenagers into animals with a single smirk."

"Yeah, you're right. I doubt that he'll even show up. I mean, it's not as though he cares about school or anything. He doesn't need to worry about getting into college. His "daddy" will probably bribe the admissions or something."

I nod my head in agreement, pursing my lips expectantly. I hope that Thalia is right, I hope that he decides to quit school and move to China or something. But that will never happen, and soon I'm going to have to face him, and it will be hell.

I sigh loudly to myself, pinching the bridge of my nose. Is it bad of me to wish that I could be alone in some big library in the mountains, rather than be at school with my friends? The entire concept of high school is stupid in my opinion. Seriously though, who thought that it would be a good idea to put 2500 teenagers in a single building?

Silena looks up at me, her doe eyes blinking slowly, long dark lashes brushing against her tan skin.

"It feels different this year," she says, her eyes flicking suspiciously. I brush it off, it's probably just first day jitters.

I nod my head in agreement. It feels as though something has shifted, but I don't know what. I hate not knowing.

"I know what you mean," I say pausing tentatively, "it feels as though-" I stop speaking, pursing my lips in alarming confusion.

The once noisy hallway almost instantaneously becomes quiet, all idle chatter coming to a halt. A grimace has spread across my face, as the dread sinks in. There's only one thing, or person to be more specific that can command this much attention. I turn around wrinkling my nose in disgust as the bane of my existence; the one and only Percy Jackson saunters down the crowded hallway arrogantly.

I don't think that there was a time when I didn't hate Percy Jackson. We first met in middle school, and from the moment I looked at him I knew that a budding friendship would not be in our future. I know that making assumptions is wrong of me, but in my case my accusations of his character turned out to be correct.

He hated me voraciously, and I him. As the years went on he began to mercilessly torture me to no end. It got to the point where even hearing his name would make my blood boil. It got infinitely worse in high school. With his athletic ability, charm, money and good looks he soared to the top of the social standings. I maintained a comfortable place somewhere in the middle. He didn't interact with me often, but when he did it was plain hell. Now I stood there gawking at him with the rest of the student body, my stomach churning with the sinking feeling that this year he was out for blood.

Silena licks her lips hungrily, quietly whispering, "As much as I hate him, I can't deny that he got hotter this summer… if that's possible." Katie nods eagerly while Thalia and I share a similar look of disdain. Thalia and Percy, along with Nico and Thalia's younger brother Jason are cousins, much to her dismay.

Though disgusted by Silena's comment, I can't help but agree with her. Percy has always been devastatingly handsome, but now he looks even better. He's tall and lean, but muscular, a perfect swimmer's body. Add a pair of mysterious sea green eyes and some perpetually messy ebony locks and you've got girls swooning for miles. Ugh, it's disgusting.

I can't help but think that when Percy was created that he was made attractive as hell to compensate for his asshole type personality.

He stops in front of his locker, and the majority of people stop staring, but I keep looking. Percy is a complete jerk, but despite this I can't help but be fascinated by him. How is it that someone who treats people like crap can be favoured by such a large population? Just as he's about to open his locker Drew Tanaka appears flanked by Rachel Dare and Calypso Ogygia (A/N: yeah I know that Ogygia is her island but she doesn't have a last name so I'm improvising. Just like most of my oral presentations…). As captain of the cheer squad it only seems right that she should be flanked by people dumb enough to worship her. She practically presses her body up to the side of Percy, running her hands up his arms in a weak attempt at seduction. I roll my eyes in disgust. I can smell the desperation from here.

Drew, Percy's long term girlfriend of three and a half weeks is clad in a pair of jean shorts that exposes her butt so much you can clearly see a little red pimple on her butt cheek. She's also wearing a pink v-neck tee about 3 sizes too small, exposing her very large breasts. Percy not so discretely glances down her shirt, and I scoff loudly. Pig.

From across the hall The pair of them look up at me, Drew practically shooting daggers out of her eyes. With her makeup and hair done to perfection I can't help but notice that she's beautiful, but in a fake sort of way.

Percy and I make eye contact and he winks at me arrogantly, sending unwanted butterflies up into my stomach. I scowl at him, turning back to my friends. Jerk.

I stare at the clock just over Silena's head, counting down the minutes until homeroom. When I look down I see that Silena has a small smile on her face.

"What?" I say, coming out more hostile than I mean to. Katie raises her eyebrows, but says nothing. Silena looks taken aback, but composes herself so quickly I'm left questioning whether or not my words actually had any affect on her.

"Nothing, just wondering what's going on with you and Percy," she responds innocently. This has always been a touchy subject for us. Her suggesting that I have feelings for him, and me denying that I do. It's a repetitive cycle that I'm quickly growing tired of.

Thalia who has said nothing, chimes in, much to my annoyance.

"Oh come on, Annie doesn't like my jerk of a cousin. Do you?"

I scowl at them, heat rising to my cheeks, saying nothing. Katie gasps and I turn to her so fast that I'm pretty sure I got whiplash.

"Oh you do!" she says shocked. Silena squeals and Thalia looks at me confused. The anger is building up in my throat, and I have to remind myself to keep my calm. What was that technique, clench your fists and count to five or something?

"Will you keep it down, you're drawing way too much attention to us," I hiss. "No, I don't like Percy. He's a selfish womanizer, and I - I hate him!" I sputter, those last words coming out harder than I would care to admit. Thalia looks at me, clearly unconvinced.

"We just don't want you to get hurt Annie," she says, and I grimace at the nickname. I've always hated being called Annie, but I've long ago stopped trying to convince Thalia to not call me that. "He's dangerous, and-"

Before Thalia can finish a high pitched scream cuts her off, coming from down the hall. I turn my head to see who caused the commotion, and look just in time to see Drew Tanaka emerge from the crowd, clutching her designer purse tightly while big black tears stream down her face. Once she's further down the hall she turns around, her glossy black hair flipping over her shoulder fashionably. How does it do that?

"You're an ass Percy Jackson," she screams loud enough for him to hear over the chatter. There's no point though, it seems like the whole school has become silent just so they can hear the dispute between the two of them. "I hope you rot in hell!" She storms down the hall, her whimpers becoming audible as she passes. The noise picks up again, and Percy calls something to her, but it gets lost in the chatter of the now noisy crowd. He looks over at me again, and I shake my head in a disappointed manner, my face growing hotter by the second. What's going on with me today?

I turn away quickly, my blonde braid swinging around and hitting my neck lightly. I open my locker hastily, getting my books for the first couple periods out. People begin to disperse out of the hallways, and my friends make plans for lunch. Just as I'm about to chime in they abruptly stop speaking. As I begin to turn around I feel hot breath on my neck, as a husky voice quietly whispers in my ear.

"Hey Chase."

I feel the urge to shiver, but bite it down.

"Get away from me Jackson," I say coolly. I try my best to keep my voice even, despite the fact that the captain of the swim team is practically pressed up against me. Holy Jesus Annabeth, now is not the time for your teenage angst!

Percy chuckles, and my heart pounds loudly in my chest.

"I'd rather not… Wise Girl." The colour drains from my face at the mention of his childhood nickname for me. Thankfully I'm still turned around and he can't see my face. I steal a quick glance at Thalia, whose expression is completely murderous. She makes eye contact with me, and we have a silent conversation.

"Why don't you just push him off?"

"I can't!"

Okay, so that's a lie, I could. I could knee him in his manhood and start screaming sexual assault… but I don't. I hate Percy Jackson with a burning passion that would make the Hatfield's and the McCoy's look like a small disagreement, but I can't deny the butterflies that flare up inside me when he's around. I don't understand it, I hate him, but at the same time my chest aches when I'm not near him, or I see him with another girl. He messes up all of my logical thoughts. Percy Jackson is a puzzle to me, and I'm missing so many of the pieces.

"Thinking about me again?" He says, jarring me out of my thoughts. He backs off slightly and I turn around, his face inches from mine.

I roll my grey eyes, trying my best not to look into his sea green ones.I feel my knees wobble and I lean against the locker, partly to get farther away from him, and party to support myself so I don't fall.

"Please Jackson. Why would I think about a womanizing pig?"

Something flashes in Percy's eyes, but it quickly disappears. He looks at me, our eyes locking. I try to look away but I can't. Stupid. Stupid. Stupid.

"Wow, Chase. I'm hurt. Why do you always fight me. We should talk. At my house. In my room."

He winks at me suggestively and I resist the urge to gag. As if.

"Shut up Jackson. I hope you're not allergic to nuts because say that again and I'll kick yours up your throat." **(A/N: I got that comeback from a text post and the first time I saw it I spit out my drink).**

He chuckles lowly and I scowl at him. I seem to be doing a lot of that lately. Percy moves closer to me, and I realize that I can't back up any farther. My back is already against the locker wall. My heart rate quickens, and with it my breath. Percy notices this, and his smile grows. He leans in, and I can feel his hot breath against my skin.

"Come on Chase, stop fighting it. I know you want to." His hands lightly rest on my waist, and I practically melt in his arms. By now my face is bright red, and I can barely breathe.

"Screw you," I say, my voice wavering as I speak. Jackson's smile grows impossibly wider, giving him a Cheshire Cat-Esque look.

"Sounds good to me."

I let out an exasperated huff, and Percy lets out a genuine laugh. I raise my eyebrows, concealing my smile. I like it when he laughs. Oh god, did I just say that?

Percy leans back in, and I look away. He leans close, and for a moment I think he's going to kiss me. But he doesn't, and I can't help but feel disappointed. His lips find their way to my ear, his hot breath tickling my skin.

"I'll see you around Chase." Then he does something completely unexpected. He kisses my cheek. He does it so lightly and quickly that I'm almost positive no one sees. But someone does see, and it's not until much much later that I found out who.

He steps away from me, and I lean against the locker. My knees are shaking so much I don't think I can stand on my own. At this point my entire body is red and so hot I resist the urge to fan myself.

Our relationship is so confusing that sometimes I want to scream. One minute we're at eachother's throats, then the next we're almost couple like. Jackson messes up my thinking so much my brain turns into a pile of mush.

He walks down the hall, the muscles in his back contracting lightly with every breath. Halfway down the hall he turns around, and winks. Then he turns back and continues walking. I watch him as he goes, turning around the corner to go god knows where. I keep staring, half expecting him to come back, but he doesn't.

Just like that the iciness that I have built around myself quickly melts. Whatever walls I put up he's knocked down. He's awful and I hate him, but he's fascinating. We're polar opposites, and I just… I don't know.

When it comes to Percy Jackson I never know.

I turn to Katie who's tan skin is flushed pink from the events that just occurred.

Silena smiles, something twinkling in her eyes, and turns to go to her class.

Thalia walks away, but turns her head to look at me, as if to say,

"You okay?"

I nod at her, giving a reassuring smile that probably doesn't look convincing. Thalia drops our eye contact, and leaves. Katie has already left, and I'm alone in the now empty hallway.

I catch my breath for a moment, processing, observing, and thinking about everything.

The warning bell rings and I quickly collect my books, walking down the hallway to my class. Almost everyone is in their classes, except for me and a few lost freshmen. I hope I'm not late to class, I never am. I should be worried, but I'm not. I'm not thinking about classes, or the workload, or anything like that. My thoughts keep straying to a certain green eyed player. I grimace, reprimanding myself internally. But I can't stop. I can't stop the way my heart skips a beat when he's near, the almost electrical current that courses through me when we touch.

I hate him for making me feel this way, and I hate myself for feeling it. We don't get to choose who we love in this world and honestly that sucks. I know that I'm going to get my heart broken, but there's nothing that I can do to stop it. I'm falling down a hole and there's nobody at the bottom to catch me. I'm going to hit the ground and it's going to hurt like hell. I know that it's going to be bad because I'm falling far and I'm falling fast. I've tried to hide from it, but it follows me wherever I go. It's time to face it now, but I don't want to. It'll never work out, I don't know what I'm thinking. But I do know what I'm thinking. I'm thinking that I'm hopelessly and inexplicably in love with Percy Jackson.

 **A/N: Ooooooohhhhhh! So Annabeth is in love with Percy? Hmmmmm. Does he recipients these feelings? What's gonna happen next? Tune in to find out! God, I sound like a commercial or something… Anyways, thanks for reading my story! Make sure to favourite, follow, review exc. Also, I really need a beta so if you want to beta this story PM me for more information! Thanks again guys, you're seriously awesome!**

 **-Xoxo RedHeadReader22**


	3. Partners

**A/N: Hey guys, *sweats nervously.* I'm really sorry for the long hiatus, it's completely unacceptable. Lately I have had A LOT going on, and I've had some serious writer's block. I have exams coming up and I'm taking the hardest courses possible so it's really overwhelming. I have swimming every day/night (twice on Tuesdays!) for two hours per practice. On top of that I'm applying to this really prestigious independent school that is only accepting one girl. (I'm starting late). Everything is so hectic I haven't had the time to write. I promised I wouldn't stop writing, and I have the next couple of chapters written so I can update consistently for a little while. Again I apologise, and I will try to be better with updating. Without further adue here is chapter two! Haha that kind of rhymes. Also I'm still looking for a beta if anyone is interested!**

 **Disclaimer: I don't own the Percy Jackson series or any of the characters. The only thing I own is the plot to this story.**

I slide into my seat just as the last bell rings, signaling that classes have started. I exhale in relief over the fact that I won't receive a tardy slip, but my relaxation is short lived as I look to see who is in my first class.

I scowl on the inside as I see the familiar unruly black hair to my right. Thankfully Jackson hasn't noticed me, his gaze focusing intently on the piece of paper on his desk. I resist the urge to look over, probably just information about some party that he's debating crashing.

Our teacher turns from the blackboard, the wheels of his wheelchair squeaking against the tile floor. A small smile graces my lips as I see that Mr. Brunner is my teacher. Everyone else looks pretty to happen, after all he's known as one of the best teachers at Goode.

I first met Mr. Brunner in freshman year, when I was new and friendless. He took me under his wing of sorts, and on several occasions opened his classroom during lunch so I would have a place to eat. Nearly every year during my high school experience I've been lucky enough to be one of his students, and now I'm in his famous English class.

Mr. Brunner clears his throat, and the quiet chatting comes to a halt. It's a rare thing that a high school teacher can command the attention of an entire class; Mr. Brunner does it effortlessly.

"Welcome to English 101, I'm your teacher Mr. Brunner. If you seem to be in the wrong class there's the door, please leave and um… don't come back."

The class laughs at this, several students looking around to see if anyone is in fact in the wrong class. Mr. Brunner has began every first day of class with this exact statement since Travis Stoll accidently sat in on his class for two weeks thinking it was an Ancient History course.

The laughter dies down after a couple of minutes, Mr. Brunner drumming his calloused fingers on the wheel of his chair absentmindedly. He claps his hands together, smiling warmly at the class.

"Now that we've got that out of the way, I'll call attendance, then we can get into today's topic."

Mr. Brunner begins to rattle off names, and I stare at the clock until I hear my name called.

"Here," I say, my gaze not straying from the timepiece.

Beside me I hear someone chuckle under their breath. Jackson. I turn to face him, my eyes narrowing at the sight of him. He sits draped lazily over his desk, the plastic chair seeming dwarfing compared to him. His fingers fiddle with an uncapped blue pen, and it catches my eye as he twirls it idly. He notices this and immediately stops, dropping it onto the desk. He looks over at me, smirking at my displeasure. He holds my gaze, and we stare at each other as Mr. Brunner continues to give the roll call. Percy breaks our staring contest of sorts and turns to face the front as Mr. Brunner calls his name.

"Yeah," he says deeply, his voice smoky. Behind me I think I hear someone swoon. Lovely. I choose to block out Jackson for the rest of the class, turning my attention to Mr. Brunner as he explains the class outline and expectations.

"... thirty percent of your total mark will be made up from partner and group work. You and your partner will each be scored equally however I will be monitoring the groups to ensure that the contribution of both parties is as equal as circumstances will allow…"

I tune back out, not particularly caring how my mark is made up. Not to be cocky or anything but I'm pretty sure I will do well in this class regardless of my attention to the marking makeup. First classes are always a bore, but soon enough Brunner's classes will be much more interesting.

Class progresses at a sluggish rate and I take to doodling along the margins of my notebook. Just as I finish putting the finishing touches on a sketch of Big Ben I feel a jab in my ribs. I look to my left, my blonde braid making a wide arc before settling on my opposite shoulder. Jackson looks at the board, pretending to pay attention to the lesson. His act looks convincing, his pen poised in his hands ready to take notes, his brow furrowed in concentration. If it weren't for the small smile that he fails to conceal I probably wouldn't have suspected that he was the one to poke me. That and Percy Jackson never takes notes.

I lean towards Percy so that I am close enough for him to hear me.

'What do you want?" I hiss at him. He takes no notice of me, still pretending to be paying attention. I let out an exasperating sigh. God he's so infuriating sometimes.

"Jackson I know you poked me, and I know you'd sooner be eaten by wolves than actually pay attention in a class other than Sex Ed. I will say it again incase your massive ego blocked you from hearing what I said the first time. What. Do. You. Want?"

Percy's smile grows, and he turns to me, his eyebrows raised as though he has no idea what I'm talking about. I roll my eyes, remembering that me being frazzled is exactly what he wants.

"Fine if you don't want to talk that works for me. In fact if you could please refrain from talking to me for-"

I'm cut off by Mr. Brunner calling my name.

"Miss Chase would you care to enlighten the rest of the class as to what you and Mr. Jackson were discussing?"

Jackson smiles as my cheeks become pink about being called out in front of the class. I open my mouth, but for a second nothing comes out as I try to think of something to say.

"I was just confirming with Percy that he understood the course material. He can be a little slow sometimes. Intellectually I mean."

Behind me someone coughs in a futile attempt to conceal laughter, and I turn to Mr. Brunner who smiles. What is my teacher thinking?

"How very kind of you Miss Chase. Since you seem to care for Mr. Jackson's understanding so much why don't the two of you be partners for the next project?"

This time no one conceals their laughter, as the entire class erupts. Surely he must be joking, Mr. Brunner knows as well as anyone that Percy and I should never work together.

My eyes widen, and I open my mouth to protest,

"Mr. Bruner I don't-," I'm cut off as Percy speaks up.

"I think that would be an excellent idea Mr. Brunner, since according to Annabeth I am quite slow. Intellectually I mean." I exhale in amusement at his comment. Then Percy leans back and in a low voice so that only I can hear, he says,

"And who knows. Maybe once we finish we can do some other, more intimate things." He smirks at me, wiggling his eyebrows suggestively.

My chest tightens, and I feel my face heating up for what feels like the thousandth time today.

"In your dreams Jackson," I mutter to him.

"Exactly."

He winks at me, before leaning forward and uncapping his pen. I sink back in my seat, hoping that I can maintain a low profile for the rest of class.

Later on Mr. Brunner comes around handing out paper for us to give a short response on our summer reading. When he hands me my sheet he smiles knowingly, and I sink lower into my chair.

Perhaps if I sink low enough I can disappear completely. If I have to sit through this class much longer I might die of embarrassment, god knows what Mr. Brunner must think of me after Jackson's and my interaction.

The bell rings and I practically jump out of my seat. I grab my things and rush out of the classroom, Percy is just ahead of me. As he exits the class he turns the corner, but I grab his arm stopping me. He turns around angrily, but once he sees who it is he smirks. I let out a huff of exasperation.

"What the hell was that Jackson?" I question angrily.

"What the hell was what?" He replied arrogantly.

My eyebrows knit in annoyance. This boy will be the death of me.

"If it wasn't for you poking me and talking in class we wouldn't be partners."

"Oh come on Chase, you were talking to me. If I didn't know any better I'd say you were looking for any excuse to be partners with me. Not that I can blame you though."

My eyes narrow, my cheeks flushing from anger. I walk a dangerous line with Jackson, constantly swaying between fighting and flirting. He towers over me, overpowering me in every way physically, yet I don't fear him. I know he won't hurt me, whether it be because of the unspoken rule between us or the shred of morality that I believe has to be buried under layers of arrogance and narcissism. So I continue to taunt him, bait him into arguing with me. I've realized I can't ignore him, because I like to argue with him. So many people tiptoe around your feelings, trying not to hurt you. Not Jackson. He doesn't pretend to be anything but what he is, a narcissistic asshole who doesn't care for anyone except himself. He doesn't treat me like I'm breakable, he doesn't take my feelings into consideration, and as twisted as it is, I like it. I know deep down that I can never cut Jackson out of my life completely, partly because someone like Percy Jackson is unavoidable, and partly because even if I could I wouldn't want to. I know this deep down, but that doesn't stop me from telling him what I'm about to say.

"Listen Jackson, I know you have this idea that I enjoy your company or am actually attracted to you, but I. Am. Not. I detest you with every fibre of my being and everytime I'm around you I am miserable. From now on don't talk to me, or interact with me in any way. You carry on with your life and I'll carry on with mine. Okay?"

If I've upset Percy he shows know sign of it. He just stares at me, his expression stone cold. Good, I could care less about him. His eyes flicker to his arm, which I am still holding onto. I hastily retract my hand, and I see I've left a red shaped hand mark from squeezing it so hard. I hadn't even noticed.

We stand in silence, and once it comes apparent to me that he isn't going to say anything I turn around, my blood pulsing through my veins with anger.

The hall begins to fill up and I push my way past a couple groping each other.

"Chase," Jackson calls from behind me, and I stop though I don't turn around. "You can't avoid me, after all we're English partners." I keep my staring ahead of me. After a moment though I turn around and when I do he's gone, the mass of people swallowing him up in the crowded halls.

I continue to go to classes, staring out the window most of the time. One of my teachers even has the audacity to play name games so everyone can get to know each other better. It's senior year, if I haven't made an effort to be friends with someone it's probably because I don't want to. Luckily the only other class I have with Percy is Math and he sits on the other side of the room. Katie is beside me, and I watch her as she takes notes on the course overview. I absentmindedly scribble on my sheet, the mindless doodling helping me focus better on the lesson. I don't take notes, Ms. Dodds will hand out a syllabus of everything we'll be doing at the end of the period.

I only look at Percy once. He's talking to some football players, his pink lips pursed as he rolls his sea green eyes. My heart flutters, and I remind myself to calm down, after all he's just a boy. A very attractive boy, but a boy all the same. He continues his conversation until the teacher begins to discuss the punishment policy, and I nearly laugh out loud. As if Jackson would care about any of the rules. I'm pretty sure he has broken a minimum of 5 in the first half of the period.

When class ends I walk out with Katie as we head to the cafeteria. Goode has two main lunches, due to the size of the school. One is for the lowerclassmen, freshman and sophomores, and the other is for the upperclassmen, juniors and seniors. Silena is already sitting at our usual table, so I slide into the seat across from her.

"Hey Sil," Katie says cheerfully, plopping down into the seat next to her. Silena jumps one hand clutching her chest.

"Oh, it's you. You scared me." Katie bows her head, smiling shyly.

"Sorry," she apologizes.

"No, it's fine."

I look at Silena questioningly. I raise a blonde eyebrow at her.

"Are you okay?"

Silena nods, tucking a piece of long, glossy black hair behind her ear.

"Yeah I'm fine. Today's just been a little weird…" she trails off and looks down at her food, clearly not wanting to talk about it. Katie doesn't get the message.

"How so?" The colour drains a little from Silena's face, and her eyes flash. She makes an ill attempt to cover up her distress with a smile before returning to her salad.

"Nevermind, it's nothing. I'm just being stupid. Seriously though, it's not a big deal." Katie nods, seemingly convinced with Silena's answer, and I am too, ignoring the gnawing feeling in my gut. If Silena says that she's fine then I should believe her, right?

As I look down at the table I realize I forgot to pack a lunch. I sigh to myself, checking in the pocket of my backpack for cash. I pull out a crumpled five dollar bill, and push up from the table, my elbows cracking.

"I'm going to get some lunch," I say to no one in particular. Katie and Silena nod, and I make my way over to the cafeteria line. I spot Thalia close to the front and go to talk to her.

"Hey Thals," I say to her. She turns around and gives me a friendly smile. I nonchalantly stand beside her and merge myself into the line, though this doesn't go unnoticed by the group of juniors behind us.

"Hey blondie, you can't cut." I roll my eyes at the junior in the middle, he's short and seems to be attempting to grow a beard; it's not working out.

Thalia lets out a sigh of annoyance, and cracks her knuckles in front of her. I think I see the middle junior quiver.

"Oh shut up before I throw you over the salad bar."

I let out a small laugh, but quickly stop when I realize that I'm the only one who thinks it's funny. Thalia's face is stone cold, and if you didn't know her as well as I do you'd think she was serious. Her eyes creased slightly, and though it looks like she's glaring I can tell she's trying not to laugh. Despite being the most intimidating looking of our friend group Thalia is probably the most easy going of all of us.

The junior nods, and one of them reaches out their arm, ushering me forward. I quirk an eyebrow, but choose to let it go. After all I'm not about to get into a fight in the cafeteria line up, unlike Thalia. Finally we get our food, and I give the lunch lady my bill as she hands me a depressing slab of what looks to be macaroni and cheese. I smile at her, resisting the urge to gag. Perhaps I should have skipped lunch.

For the rest of break the four of us make easy conversation, Silena's odd behaviour forgotten. In the remainder of my classes I try my best to pay attention, but it's hard. It seems that my ADHD is kicking in, and I try to recall whether or not I've taken my meds. When the bell finally rings I practically jump out of my seat, and head to my locker to get my gym clothes. Track tryouts are today and if I do well this week then I have a decent shot at making Captain. If I become Track Team Captain maybe Athena will tell me that I'm competent or something.

Silena's locker is just down from mine, and seeing that she's there I walk over. She's getting her binders out and unsuccessfully attempting to stick them in her tiny purse. I lean against the lockers next to her, and wait for her to notice me. She looks up after a minute and gives a small smile.

"Hey I have track practice but after do you want to come over and watch a movie or something? It's only the first day but I could already use some R and R. **(A/N: R and R stands for rest and recovery if any of you didn't know :).)**

Silena bites her lip as she is trying to decide her answer for my proposition. We're silent for a minute, and I fiddled idly with the zipper of my sweater.

"Sorry I can't," she says, "my dad asked me if I could help out at the store, and I already promised I would. Maybe next time?" I look at her quizzically. Silena's dad owns a chain of chocolate stores, but the only one near us is closed for renovations.

"But isn't the store closed for the rest of the month?" I ask her.

Silena's normally rosy cheeks lose some of their colour.

"Oh um yeah. He wants me to help out with the … inventory. Yeah, he is really swamped right now, and I need to help him, with the inventory… tonight. But we will definitely get together soon. How about a sleepover with the rest of the girls before the Stoll's back to school party?"

I nod at her, not convinced with her excuse. Silena has always been a terrible liar. She avoids eye contact and always gives a little too many details. All signs of a liar.

"Yeah sounds good," I say to her, "see you later I guess."

She nods, smiling sweetly. I quickly walk away from her and into the locker room to get changed. As I lace up my shoes I can't help but wonder why Silena blew me off. She could have just told me she wasn't feeling up to it and I would have understood, I wonder what's going on with her?* * *

"Okay Chase I want you to give me another lap, and if it's not the same speed or faster you're going to keep doing it until it's right. Do you understand?"

I nod at Mr. Mars, wiping sweat from my brow. My legs are shaking from all the drills and laps that we've been running for the past hour, and I can feel the puke rising in my throat. I swallow it down, not wanting to be shamed into using the bucket on the first practice. Mr. Mars is pushing us so hard so he can weed out the weak people right away, and to see who will rise to the top. I bend down into the starting position and my calves already feel like they're on fire. I really should have trained more over the summer. I stare ahead at the lines on the track, rocking back and forth slightly on my toes, pushing back on the starting platform.

The whistle blows and I take off, my long legs stretching with each stride. Despite all the stress that comes along with track meets, running relaxes me. Everything in my life seems so hectic and complicated like I'm standing still and everything around me is spinning. I get so stressed and tired of everything that being able to run and get rid of some of my built up emotions is really helpful. When I'm running the world fades away, there's no more Percy, no more Athena or grades or silly high school drama. I'm just putting one foot in front of the other, breathing in and out.

Despite my best efforts Percy Jackson does invade my thoughts. He's so frustrating, he messes up every logical thought that I have and confuses me endlessly. He aggravates me but for once that's a good thing. The anger and confusion makes me run harder and faster, as if by running I can flee from everything, I can run away from Percy Jackson. I push harder and harder, my even breathing turning into choking gasps until I realize that I've crossed the 400 metre mark and have run almost a full 50 metres past. Using metres in running confused me at first, having to do the conversions in my head was so frustrating, but now it's almost automatic.

I slow down to a stop and bend down, resting my arms on my knees and ease my way into a crouching position. Perspiration drips from my forehead and the side of my face. I spit out the sweat that has begun to fall into my mouth, little droplets coating the track below me.

"Way to go Chase. You ran a 54.89 for a 400 metre after an hour of practice. If you keep up the pace you could be on track to set a state record!" Mr. Mars comes up behind me and gives an awkward pat on the back. I look up at him and smile a little. Athena will be pleased, a state record will definitely improve my chances of earning a scholarship.

"Thanks… coach," I say panting. I'm trying my best to keep my breaths even but it's hard. I turn around and see Michael Yew standing by the water cooler glaring. Michael has wanted the Captaincy since freshman year, and me nearly setting a state record and getting praise from Mr. Mars has practically solidified my chances of being captain. Good, Michael Yew always annoyed me anyways. As if the day couldn't be better Mr. Mars calls out to Michael,

"Hey Yew, get Chase a water will you? She definitely earned it, so quit your sulking and get back to practice or I'll make waterboy your permanent position!"

I stare at the ground, hoping that neither Mr. Mars nor Michael will see me smile. There's nothing I love more than beating someone as cocky as Michael and having coach yell at him for being lazy. It's like a breath of fresh air on a spring day.

Michael hands me the water, practically shoving it into my hand. I mutter a thanks to him but I don't really mean it. I chug the water down, savouring the way the cool liquid feels as it trickles down my throat. Michael probably spit in the water but I can't find it in me to care, God I'm so thirsty.

I finish my water and crumple the cup. I turn around to face the football field, and as I wipe my mouth with the back of my hand I see him. Percy Jackson is running, his football gear fully on and I can't help but admire how good he looks in the uniform. Everyone at Goode knows that Percy is the best high school swimmer in the city, possibly in the entire state, but with swim team not starting until the winter he needs something active to do so he can cross train. I watch him transfixed as he breaks out into a full sprint, hands in the air before coming back down to cradle the football that was thrown to him. He stops and stands still as his coach barks some command out to him. I take this time to admire how nice his butt looks in the football pants. Then, as if it's happening in slow motion Percy turns around and makes eye contact with me. Our eyes lock from across the field and I blush, though my cheeks are so red that he wouldn't even notice. To put it lightly I look like I've been hit by a bus, my blonde hair falling out of my elastic, the curls frizzing at the end. My face is tomato red and my tank top is covered in sweat stains. My knobby knees are all scratched up from falling on the track earlier. Percy on the other hand looks like he was just brought down from the heavens. His tan face has a rosy tint on his cheeks, and the physical exercise make the muscles in his arms more defined. His ebony locks are plastered along his face, his sea green eyes bright.

The staring between us only lasts a moment, but to me it feels like an eternity. Percy breaks the contact, frowning at me before running off as his coach yells something to him. I sigh as I pick up the paper water cup that I must have dropped, and head towards the change room to shower.

Sometimes I wish Jackson would look at me just once with the lust that is written clearly upon his face when he sees an attractive girl. I'm not ugly, but I'm no bombshell, and guys like Percy don't think twice about girls like me. I'm inexplicably average in looks, my only outstanding quality is my brain and unfortunately in today's society smart girls are not sought after. I don't need male appreciation to make me feel validated, I'm independent and am confident in myself which is all that really matters I suppose. It would be nice though if when a guy looked at me he'd think I was beautiful or even sexy rather than whether or not I'd let him copy off my Biology homework.

I step out of the showers and dress quickly, braiding my damp curls to keep them from puffing out. As I exit the change room I steal a glance at the mirror making sure I look presentable. Athena expects me to be the perfect model child, part of that is keeping up appearances.

I walk quickly to my car. I never wanted a car and I barely ever use it, but Athena thought it important that I have one.

"The subway is for lowly people, people who we are not to associate with. You are a Chase, and Chase's are not like regular people."

I nod at Athena when she says this, internally rolling my eyes. It's true, once the Chase name was well known and reputable. Years ago the Chase's were the main architect for the Rockefeller's, my ancestors responsible for the construction of nearly a third of all the buildings in Manhattan. Not any more though, when we lost all our money in a business deal that went bad. Now all the Chase's are is a family with background but not a penny to their name. Compared to most we're still wealthy, I need not want for anything, but that doesn't matter to my mother. She's not even a Chase by blood, she married my father and when they got divorced she kept the name. It was to be closer associated with me, she said. It wasn't though, Athena is a class climber who pretends she isn't. She's so obsessed with what other people think of her, of her family and it sickens me. Athena tries to control every aspect of everyone's life to ensure her image of perfection isn't tainted. She chooses my school, my activities, and even tries to pick my friends. That's where I draw the line, much to my mother's disappointment.

My car, a white mini cooper, is parked facing the football field. I slide into the driver's seat and start the engine, looking out the windshield for the a familiar mess of black hair. I push down my disappointment when I don't see him.

"Snap out of it Annabeth," I say aloud to myself. Percy Jackson distracts me, and with this being my last and most important year in high school I cannot be distracted. Whatever I feel for Percy, whether it be hate or infatuation needs to be pushed aside, for now at least. I'll sort out my feelings when I have more time to think about them. Great, I'm compartmentalising my emotions, how proud Athena would be of me.

I fidget with the dials changing the song multiple times during my ride. Traffic is light, and I make it home within twenty minutes. I pull onto my street, it's so quiet and serene here. Very unlike the rest of New York. Luckily there's a parking spot right near my house, so I parallel park, thankful for the time I spent practicing trying to fit in New York's tight parking spaces.

Despite all the awkwardness that awaits me when I step through the front door, I can't help but love my house. The walk up three story brownstone has been in the Chase family for three generations. If it hadn't been given to my mother and father as a wedding present we never would have been able to afford it. Then my parents divorced, mom taking the house and the kids, dad taking his 27 year old assistant and the house in Malibu.

When my dad left and moved to California with his new much younger wife Helen, my mom went into a state of anger and renovated the entire house. By the time she was finished the rich wood panelling on the walls was replaced with cloud white tones. The worn leather chairs in the living room were replaced with more 'artistic pieces'. Luckily she left my room untouched in the process, and for that I'm thankful. While everything around me changed my room stayed the same.

I walk up the steps and carefully turn the handle of the door. The knob is very expensive according to my mother therefore making it important to her. I can't help but wonder how many starving children could have been fed with the money from the handle.

"Athena, I'm home!" I call, immediately cringing as I remember how she feels about yelling in the house.

"I'm in the kitchen Annabeth," I hear her reply, and I make my way into the kitchen. When I get in I see my mother standing by the stove, watching a pot of water boil. I drop my backpack onto the island, and Athena turns around. Her brown hair is pulled back stylishly in a bun, her white button up tucked into her grey pencil skirt, wrinkle free. She looks at me, not happy or sad. Her grey eyes bore into me as if she's analyzing me like a blueprint, trying to find any errors. When she looks at me like this I can't help but feel like I've done something very wrong.

Athena knows she's beautiful and uses it to her advantage, flirting with businessmen so they will buy her building designs. People sometimes tell me that I look like her, but if it weren't for our signature grey eyes and nose no one would even know we were related. Athena's features are sharp and defined, feminine yet structured. My features are softer, the only noticeable structure are my cheekbones. They look out of place though contrasting with the soft curve of my jaw line, and the refined slope of my nose. I look like a plain person with a few semi attractive features, making me just nice enough to look at, but not pretty enough to be cast a second glance.

None of this matters though, I remind myself. I'm smart, and like Athena says, a sharp mind is the only quality that really matters.

I snap out of my thoughts, realising that Athena shouldn't be home for at least another hour.

"You're home early," I remark. I peer into the fridge, looking for anything appealing to eat.

"Yes. I went in early this morning and I finished everything that I needed to get done. I thought I'd make dinner tonight."

I nod, closing the fridge as I remember the popcorn that's in the pantry.

"Okay, sounds good," I respond to Athena absentmindedly. She's poured the pasta into the water and is stirring it. I reach into the bag not bothering to pour any popcorn into a bowl. Athena sees me do this and I slowly retract my hand.

"Don't eat that, we're having pasta for dinner and if you have popcorn too that's too many carbs. Have an apple instead," she says, gesturing over to the bowl of green apples on the island. I put the popcorn back in the pantry regretfully and take the fruit.

"Thanks… Athena," I say as I bite into the apple. I almost called her mom, but quickly corrected myself. I hope she didn't notice. When my dad left Athena went into a sort of mode. She renovated the entire house, getting rid of everything that reminded her of my father. She threw herself into her work and completely shut down her emotions. That included whatever small part of motherly love she had. She asked me to refer to her as Athena, not mom. Afterall that's her name.

Athena's not a bad mom, she's just not a good one. She still makes sure I eat, helps me with my homework and asks about my grades. The only problem is she takes interest in the wrong things. She's more focused on my grades and achievements rather than the state of my happiness. If she noticed for once that maybe I wasn't okay and actually showed she cared about me as a person then perhaps I wouldn't feel like I'm constantly drowning, trying to grab onto anything that could keep me afloat.

"How was school today?" she says changing the subject.

"It was okay," I respond, "I'm in Brunner's English class."

Athena nods, knowing what a good teacher he is. He's received numerous teachers awards and graduated from Columbia. She obviously thinks that a recommendation from him would improve my chances in applying there.

"That's nice," Athena says chopping up some onions. "Did you get assigned your English partners yet?"

I cringe at this, debating whether or not I should tell her Percy is my partner. She'll find out eventually, after all we are going to spend time working on projects outside of school.

"It's umm… Percy Jackson," I say quietly. Athena stops chopping the onions, her mouth pressed into a thin line. The Jackson's and the Chase's have had a long history. The Jackson family is one of the most wealthy and powerful in New York, perhaps in the entire country. My father and Percy's were friends, but the relationship went sour when my father was caught in some less than legitimate business deals with Percy's grandfather. Now our father's hate each other, but my mother doesn't know how she feels about them. I hope she'll be calm about this.

"Percy's a nice boy I suppose. His family is very influential." I roll my eyes as Athena looks off into the distance.

She's probably thinking about some way to set me up with Jackson so that she can become higher in the class system. The thought of me being anything more than enemies with Jackson makes my stomach turn, though I'm not sure if it's from disgust or longing. Disgust, it has to be disgust.

"Yeah mom, he's nice I guess." Compared to Stalin… "I'm going to do some homework," I say wanting to get away from whatever stuffy conversation I know she's going to attempt to make in the next few minutes. Athena hates awkwardness, trying to start a conversation between us. This unintentionally makes it worse.

"Okay, I'll call you down when dinner is ready."

I nod at Athena, and pick my bag up from the island. I head up the stairs, sighing in relief as I enter my room. The walls are a soft grey, accenting perfectly with my white furniture. Parallel to the door and my closet the window on my wall looks out onto a small backyard, a luxury in New York. Two bookcases stand on opposite sides of my window, filled to the brim with books. Under my window lies a white desk with a couple pictures of my friends and family. My bed sits on the wall perpendicular to my window, a fluffy duvet inviting me in for a long nap. I flop down in a small armchair near my bookshelf, and reach over to grab the laptop on my desk.

I may have told a small lie to Athena. I didn't have any homework, but she doesn't need to know that. I sit on my computer for a while, relishing in the tranquility. The world is so hectic, the four grey walls of my bedroom shielding me from the chaos that surrounds me. I can never escape, but it's nice even if it's for a little while to pretend that I'm the only one in the world. I don't mind being alone, I quite like it actually. I never feel very lonely when I'm in my room. I've got plenty of books, the characters within and the authors who wrote them to keep me company. The time I feel the most alone is when I'm in a big group with nothing to say. These days the group gets bigger and my voice gets smaller. Maybe one day, I'll have nothing to say at all. But I don't need to worry about that now.

Now I can sit in my armchair, on my computer or reading a book. For the first time today I'm almost happy, and it feels nice.

 **A/N: So that was the third chapter, and holy it was long! Each of the chapters will be about 4000 -7000 words, give or take. Thanks again for reading and I will probably post within two weeks. Make sure to review, follow favourite exc. And feel free to comment where you want the story to go next. I love hearing what you think. Love you all and have a great day/night!**

 **Xoxo RedHeadReader22**


	4. The Good Girl and the Player

**A/N: Hey guys! I have no idea how long it took me to update this time but hey, at least it isn't as bad as my last one. Too soon? Anyways, sorry for the delay, but I'm trying to make these chapters as long as possible. And these chapters sure are long! I think this one is like 6874 words exactly!? That's a lot! Anyways, I'll keep this short but thanks again to all who have read this. Make sure to follow and favourite this story, and review; I love to hear what you all think! Sorry for all the exclamation points and all the 'anyways'. I'll stop now. Here is the next chapter of Illusions!**

 **Disclaimer: I don't own the Percy Jackson series or the characters and such. *Makes Severus Snape face* Obviouuussslly**.

"Athena I'm leaving," I call from the bottom of the staircase.

"Okay, you don't need to yell. I'll see you when I get home." Athena replies, putting on her earring as she walks down the stairs regally.

I grab my backpack and leave in a huff, slamming the door harder than I intended to, but not really caring. I seem to be in a mood today, like everything and everyone is out to aggravate me.

I get to school, honking at some old lady along the way who was going way too slow and practically swerving all over the road. Did I mention that I hate driving? Because I really do. Once I'm at school I head to my locker. Thalia's leaning against it, but when she sees me stands up.

"Hey," she says. I grunt in response. She quirks an eyebrow up, as if to say, "what's wrong with you?" I shake it off, opening my locker. After I take out my books, slamming the door shut.

"You're in a bit of a mood today, aren't you?" Thalia says, noting my aggravation.

"Yeah. I'm sorry, I'm just really ticked off for some reason. It's not you, I think it's because it's just Athena and me alone in that house. It's really starting to get on my nerves."

Thalia nods sympathetically.

"It's fine. If I had to be in that house every day with Athena I'd go nuts."

I smile at the thought of Athena and Thalia living together. Athena has always hated Thalia, but I'm not really sure why why. Ever since I was little she's always disapproved of our friendship. I've long since given up trying to make the two of them at least half cordial to each other. Some people just don't mix, and in this case Athena and Thalia are like oil and water.

I nod at her, putting my textbooks into my backpack. As I finish zipping my bag up I hear someone call out my name.

"Hey Annabeth!"

I look up and smile, as I see Nico Di Angelo walking towards me. Nico's Thalia and Percy's cousin. Their dads were all brothers, but they had a bit of a falling out, and for the most part their kids took sides. Thalia and Percy hate each other, while Thalia's brother Jason and Percy remain best friends. These days Thalia and her brother barely ever speak, it's sad. I still talk to Jason, but never for very long. He's a year younger than us and most of the time he's never without his girlfriend Piper. Nico remains neutral, somehow managing to be close with both Thalia and Percy, a feat within itself. On top of everything he's one of my good friends, despite Percy and I being sworn enemies. Whenever Percy comes up we usually just gloss over him. It's pretty effective.

"Hey Nico," I say as he stops in front of me, fiddling with the zipper of his leather jacket. His black hair is a mess, falling over his eyes almost covering them completely. It's a wonder he can see at all.

I haven't seen Nico since summer, before he left for Florence to intern at his dad's company. "How was Italy?"

He brushes his hair back and tucks a piece behind his ear.

"It was okay," he says. He's picking a piece of blackl polish off of his fingers, avoiding my eyes. "Hey um…" he stutters, blushing a little. "Have you… ah… seen Will Solace anywhere?"

Thalia elbows me, smiling, and I jump, forgetting that she was there.

"Why?" I say coyly, smirking at him.

Nico's normally olive skin goes pale.

"No reason, I just ah-"

I roll my eyes as Thalia cuts him off.

"Nics, make your move on Will. You've been pining for him since like 10th grade. He likes you, he's been asking where you were these past couple weeks."

I nod at what Thalia's saying, as though to further convince him about Will.

"Yeah, probably had a question about homework or something. Plus I'm perfectly fine pining after him. In fact I am so cool with my current situation. Very cool, ice cool."

Thalia huffs in annoyance, but I just shake my head.

Nico looks down at his sneakers, a faded skull drawn on the tip with black sharpie.

"Plus," he mumbles, "it's not like I could bring him home or anything."

My stomach sinks when Nico says this. Nico came out as gay in freshman year, everyone knew and was supportive of him, except his father. Nico finally worked up the courage to tell Hades, and when he did it ended badly. Nico's sister and mom died in a car crash a year earlier, and since then his dad hasn't been the same. Nico hasn't been either, but he hides it. He puts up a front, joking and laughing, but when he thinks no one is looking his facade falls away. It's not fair, Nico is one of the best people that I know, but he's been through so much. That's why it made me so angry when I found out what happened to Nico when he came out to his dad.

At first Hades was in shock, but when it finally settled in he yelled at Nico. The next thing we knew he was sent to some really tough boarding school and when he came back in grade eleven he was different. He still jokes around, but it's forced. Other than Thalia and Jackson he's got no family. Hades is doing a piss to poor job at being a father so he doesn't count anymore. Despite everything though, Nico still loves him, and is trying desperately to earn his approval. If he'd just accept his son then maybe Nico wouldn't be so distraught.

Thalia clears her throat, and I realize that I haven't said anything. I've been too distracted.

"Nico, I'm sorry." I say. He gives me a sad smile, and I feel my heart break. I pull him into a hug, and he goes stiff. Then he relaxes, and hesitantly wraps his arms around me. Nobody hugs Nico much anymore, he needs somebody.

"It's okay," he says stepping back. "It's not your fault."

"I gotta go to class, the bell's going to ring soon." Nico gives Thalia and I a little wave before knocking down the hall.

Once he's gone Thalia let's out a grunt of anger.

"I hate Hades. I'm going to kill him. It's not fair. Nico's all he has left and he's pushing him away I swear the next time I see him I'm-"

"Thalia." I interject. She closes her mouth looking at me. Her electric blue eyes are dark, swimming with anger and frustration.

"I hate that he refuses to accept Nico too, but threatening him won't solve anything. All we can do is be as supportive towards Nico as we can, okay?"

She nods, her black hair bouncing.

"I'll see you later," she says.

I nod, turning to leave.

As I head towards my first period class I shuffle my feet, suddenly very tired like I could just lay down and slip into a long deep sleep.

My home room is to the left of me, and for a moment I don't want to go in. What's the point? It's not like I'm going to learn anything extremely useful or life changing.

I'm shocked at this, not going to class has never crossed my mind, it wasn't even an option. But I could. I could run out of the school and get in my car and drive. I could go downtown to the library, or head to Penn Station and get on the first train out of here.

As I weave through the now crowded halls of students heading to their first classes I can't help but feel like everything that I've been taught is wrong. When we're young we're taught that good things happen to good people, and vice versa to the bad. If we set out to be nice, and do things that are good than we should live a happy and easy life. There won't be any tribulations that you have to deal with. If that's true though, then why do so many good people have lots of genuinely bad things happen to them ? Nico is one of the most caring, funny, and nicest person I've met, yet he's miserable. His mother and sister are gone, his only immediate family that he has left hates who he is. Then there's Thalia. She's loyal to a fault, coming to defend her friends even when they don't ask for it, but her brother and dad won't even speak to her. Her mom has been in rehab since she was little and when Thalia visits her, she doesn't even recognize her own daughter.

It isn't fair. People like Nico and Thalia have all this… this shit to deal with, while bad people have things just work out for them. Percy Jackson is a prime example. He treats everyone and everything like crap, not giving a damn about anything about himself. Yet things just work out for him. He skates through life having things handed to him, nothing bad can or will happen to him. He's Percy Jackson, untouchable in every sense.

As I ponder my sudden realisation, I can't help but feel like the world around me that I once believed to be wholesome is flawed. Like all the morals and lessons that I've been taught in my seventeen years are irrelevant.

I frown, sliding into my first period seat. I'm being silly and overdramatic. I'm having an existential crisis, but I shouldn't be. I turn my focus to the teacher, urging myself to stay focused. I can't though, thinking about Thalia and Nico, and even Percy Jackson the entire time.

School has progressed in a monotone way, and although I feel satisfied with the calm easiness that one can associate with monotonousness I can't help but wish that something would happen to me.

Maybe it's just because of all the books that I've read, but I can't help but feel like I'm missing out on something. I don't know what my something is, but I know that it's big and it's just waiting to happen to me. My entire life has been filled with mundane things and I crave for an adventure. As I sit at the desk in my math class I can't help but feel that staring out a window for the remainder of my high school career isn't something that's supposed to happen to me. I want an adventure, no correct that, I need one. I think that I'm going to go crazy sitting down listening to other people's "Great Adventure's" and I fear that I may never have one of my own.

I'm only seventeen but I feel like my time is running out. Soon I'll be off to college, then I'll meet someone, have my career, get married and have kids by the time I'm thirty or so. That's how it's supposed to go, right? It's like my clock is running out, and soon there won't be any time left. I'll be one of those people who writes about adventure's but never lives one. If life was a roller coaster then mine would be perpetually flat and slow. I don't want flat and slow, I want the hills, the drop, the feeling in your gut as you look over the edge, the adrenaline that rushes through you at the drop. I want some boy with messy hair and a twinkle in his eyes to knock on my bedroom window in the middle of the night and whisk me off to some spontaneous journey. I'm a good girl, I play by the rules. I stay inside on a Friday and do my homework. I'm Annabeth Chase, the girl teacher's trust to wander the halls and do the assignment correctly. I'm trying to be the epitome of perfection and I'm tired. I'm tired of playing by the rules, and I want to break some, create my own. But it's not like that's ever going to happen. I'm Annabeth Chase, and I follow the rules, not write my own.

"Ms. Chase?" I jump at the sudden noise and fling my pencil in the room in the process. it hits some kid drawing on a desk in the head and he looks up, rubbing his head. The rest of the class laughs and I look up to see Ms. Dodds looking down at me, shaking her head in a disappointed manner. I smile at her smalley, hoping she will lighten up again. Her scowl deepens.

I clear my throat, it's tickled. I think I'm getting a cold or something.

"Yes, Ms. Dodds?" I say, trying to be as polite and respectful as possible. Honestly, I hate the woman. I never hate my teachers, but something about her just makes my blood boil, she's so disconcerting and… weird.

She huffs loudly, clearly displaying how annoyed she is with me.

"Ms. Chase would you please answer the questions on the board, given that I have asked you three times. Do you understand now or do I need to speak slower?" she says in a hostile tone, fully articulating her words in a way that just drives me mad.

"Of course Ms. Dodds," I say getting up from my chair. As I walk to the board I look up at it, internally sighing in relief because I know the answer. Not to sound cocky or anything, but when it comes to school, I usually know the answer. But when it comes to makeup or relationships or social interactions… well, let's not talk about that.

I grab the piece of yellow chalk that sits on the ledge, and write the formula and answer on the board. I almost laugh at my teacher. She used such a complicated way of displaying the equation, most people would get discouraged and give up, even though it's a fairly easy answer to get. When I finish I put the chalk down and turn around, unable to hide the small smile that spreads across my face when she sees that it's right and the rest of the class hurriedly copies down the answer. Take that Dodds!

"Correct," Ms. Dodds says curtly, almost looking disappointed at the fact that I have succeeded. Pretty much the American education system summed up in one sentence ladies and gentlemen.

I sit back down, wiping my chalky hands on my jeans, but immediately regretting my actions. My jeans are all dusty and chalky, and they look dirty now. My hands are still dirty too. I'm smart, I swear.

The rest of class goes by quickly and before I know it I'm on my way to study hall. Unfortunately I have it the same period as the person who's responsible for all the bad in the world. In case you didn't know the answer it's Percy Jackson. Ugh. He always tries to distract me, and I can never get any work done. He'll look over my shoulder and breathe incredibly loud, or read out loud so that I can hear him. Or he just sits there. When he sits there, his brow furrowing in concentration he looks like a god damned male model. So, I basically just procrastinate for 45 minutes and drool over Jackson. It's pretty distressing that find the bane of my existence is attractive as hell, but whatever, sue me.

I walk down the halls alone, until someone comes up behind me and knocks my books out of my hands, and papers and textbooks fall to the floor.

A string of curse words escape my mouth as I crouch down, scavenging the papers that have scattered across the crowded hallway. Great, some football player just stepped on my Science homework. Have I mentioned that I hate high school? Because I do, I really do.

Someone crouches down next to me and I'm about to thank god for creating one semi decent human being who will help someone pick up their papers when another person has knocked them out of said someone's hands… That is until I hear them speak.

"Tsk, tsk, Chase," the voice says, "you've got to be more careful with your papers. You're causing a scene, and stopping people from getting to their classes. I thought you were for other people getting a proper education, not against it." I look over my shoulder to see Jackson crouching slightly behind me, sporting a lopsided grin. I glare at him as butterflies rise up in my stomach. I attempt to beat them down with a metaphorical bat.

"And if I were you I wouldn't go around knocking people's books out of their hands. It's a particularly nasty thing to do. Then again you're a particularly nasty person, so I guess if the shoe fits..."

Jackson moves over to crouch beside me as I collect the rest of my papers. There is a shoe print on one of them. Fabulous, I love shoe prints on my assignments.

He raises his eyebrows at my last comment, clutching his chest as though I have wounded his heart with my harsh words. LIke the arrogant ass actually has a heart.

"I'm hurt Chase, and you're accusing me of spilling your books? That's low, blaming me for your clumsiness. Rude, rude, rude."

I stand up, clutching my books tightly to my chests. I'm not picking these up off the floor again.

"Jackson, I know you're hopelessly in love with me, and know that the only way for me to pay any attention to you is for us to exchange insults, but I'm late for study hall, so can you walk and talk, or is that too difficult for you?"

Percy rolls his eyes at my comment, and I look down at my feet as we walk, waiting for his reply.

"Please Chase," he scoffs, "I wouldn't have any sort of feelings for you even if my life depended on it. We all know that you're in love with me and that's why you follow me around like a lost puppy, so shut up and get to your god damned study hall."

I glare at him, flames dancing in my eyes. I'd never admit it to him but that hurt, a lot. Jackson always likes to push boundaries, and sometimes he even crosses them. I just hurl insults back at him, to mask the fact that it hurts. It's not an effective method, but so what. It keeps him from becoming suspicious and it keeps him talking to me. Sometimes it's scary how right he is. If he wasn't so damn oblivious I'd be worried that he'd figure out how I felt.

The hallways have cleared, most people in their classes as next period is about to begin.

"Shut up Jackson," I say nastily. I shove him for effect, a lot harder than I meant to and he bangs into the lockers on the other side of the hall. It makes a loud banging noise that echoes through the halls, and I jump at the loudness of it. For a moment Jackson looks startled, but then his eyes lock with mine. He's livid.

Jackson and I fight verbally all the time, but we rarely ever get seriously physical. I swat him and he pinches me, but it's rarely ever that we start throwing punches. When we first met I punched him and he got a bloody nose, and he kicked me in the shins so hard once that I had bruises for a week. But that was years ago, we've matured. Plus, Percy would never hit a girl, it would look awful on him, and there would be hell to pay, both from the school, and from Thalia. I'm completely against the fact that anybody should hit anyone (unless someone is hitting Percy, I'm all for that) but I hate the rule that it's wrong for a boy to hit a girl, but not a boy to hit another boy, or a girl to hit a boy. If we want to be treated as equals we shouldn't have it so that hitting one gender is socially unacceptable and not the other, it should be both genders. Though I guess that social norm does work in my favour given that Percy is basically twice my size and could take me any day.

I turn my attention back to Percy, who is storming over towards me, looking practically animalistic. My heart pounds in my ears, and for a moment I actually fear him. He see's my eyes widening, and he slows down a little, but still pushes me up to the lockers, our bodies almost pressed together, and I feel his hot breath on my skin. This time though, there isn't anything romantic or seductive about it.

"You don't push me okay Chase? You can hurl whatever petty little insults you want, but hit me again and I will end you. You're a little bitch Chase, and I hate you. Do you understand? I loathe you, and I always will." His sea green eyes are dark with anger, his hair messy and his cheeks flushed pink.

I give him an icy stare, trying to maintain my last little bit of composure. I don't say anything. I just nod. I can't say anything. Being this close to Jackson clouds my thoughts and I can't even think of one of my witty remarks. He's left me completely speechless.

We stand there, still close together, as I stare at him. I'm mad at him, so mad that my cheeks are red, and my stormy grey eyes are so dark they're almost black. But more than anything it hurts. It hurts so much that a couple hot tears spill out of my cheeks. Jackson just assumes that they're angry tears from arguing, but his gaze still softens a little. Don't do that, don't do that Jackson. When he does that, looks all soft and concerned he pulls me back in, like a dog on a leash.

"I hate you Jackson," I choke out, "you're the most foul and loathsome creature on earth and every day I'm near you I am miserable. You make everyone miserable. Your so called friends hate you, they just spend time with you because you're rich." Jackson's jaw sets as I stare at him, the anger and hatred and passion roaring out of me like word vomit. I want to see him in pain, I want him to feel what I feel, but I don't know why. Maybe I'm just a horrible person, I don't know. He's not riled up yet, so I continue.

"Your cousins hate you, and they would rather spend time with your arch enemy rather than you. All your teachers hate you, you're a disappointment of a student and they know it so they hate you. Hell, you're parents probably hate you-" I'm cut off as he slams his hand against the locker beside my head. I jump, breathing heavily, a stray blonde curl going up and down in front of my face in time with my huffs.

"Shut up Chase! Just shut up!"

I'm about to open my mouth when a classroom door opens and Mr. Jenkins, the history teacher steps out, looking at the pair of us worriedly.

"Mr. Jackson, Miss Chase, what in the world is going on?"

I look between Mr. Jenkins and Jackson like a deer caught in headlights, as Percy snakes a hand around my waist. I would pull away but he has me gripped tightly, and I'm squished up against the lockers.

"Oh nothing, Mr. J," Jackson says as he brings me impossibly closer to his body. I can smell his cologne clearly, and oh my sweet baby jesus it smells good. Like that cologne smell that every guy has mixed in with the sea. I want to bury my head in his pullover and breathe, but I don't.

"My girl and I are just having a little dispute about the homework. You know how this one gets when you say she's wrong." He looks at me smiling, and it's so sincere looking that I almost believe it, if it wasn't for the glint of anger dancing in his eyes. He still hates me, nothing has changed.

Mr. Jenkins looks between the two of us, baffled. It's no secret that everyone knows Percy and I hate each other. This little encounter will certainly be the buzz of the school by the end of the day. So much for trying to maintain a low profile.

"Are you sure it's nothing? Miss Chase?" He looks at me sympathetically, obviously not exactly pleased with Percy. But how could he be. He's a player and I'm the good girl, it's a tale as old as time.

I put on my most sincere smile, and look at Mr. Jenkins reassuringly.

"Oh yeah, it's nothing. You know Percy, he gets so stubborn. You should see him when we talk about his action figure collection. It's nuts, he just-"

I'm cut off by Percy pinching me in the side, and I bite down my squeal of pain. The little…

Mr. Jenkins looks at us weirdly and I smile, then Percy kisses me on the cheek. I resist the urge to squirm out of his arms. The nerve of that guy.

Mr. Jenkins looks down at the ground uncomfortably, obviously appalled at the fact that the most notorious enemies are suddenly cosying up to one another. The things he must be thinking… oh god.

"Well if you're sure everything is good then I'll just-a- return to my-uh- classroom then. Please go to your classes though, I don't want to get you into trouble. Take this as a warning, next time it will be detention for the both of you."

I nod my head quickly, my curls bouncing up and down. I can feel Percy smiling beside me. As soon as Mr. Jenkins closes the door his smile drops and his scowl returns. He retracts his arm from my waist as if it were burning hot. Judging how red my entire body is right now from the sudden encounter I wouldn't doubt that it wasn't.

I look up at him, staring into his eyes even though I want to shrink back.

"Um… thanks Jackson for doing that. " I say quietly. He rolls his eyes, but not in a malicious way.

"Yeah well I don't need another detention and if we did get one then that would mean I would be stuck with you then longer than I have to."

I nod at him, choosing to ignore the jab that he just directed at me.

"Yeah, I'd probably kill you if we were stuck in a room together."

He smiles a little, but when I look at him he quickly masks it to form a scowl. I swallow my sigh. I shouldn't wish that he would think that it's okay to smile at me, but I do. Stupid.

He turns to leave, but I stop him, grabbing his arm.

"Look Jackson what I said earlier, I didn't mean-"

He cuts me off, shaking his arm from my grip in the process.

"Chase, don't try to apologize. I said some pretty shitty things but I'm not going to apologize. So don't it will just make it weird between us. Then our relationship will change or something. It can't change, and it shouldn't."

I look down at my shoes, I can't look at him any longer. He turns to leave, and this time I don't stop him as he walks down the hall away from where we're supposed to go for study hall. I don't ask him why our relationship can't change. I already know the reason. I hate that we'll always be enemies. We're not like the regular kind, of enemies I mean. Yeah, one minute we're at each other's throats, but the next it's like we're almost friends. I know that no matter what he still hates me, and on some level I always feel hatred towards him, but because I care for him so much it makes me forgive him so easily.

Nothing can ever change between us, it never has and it never will.

I'm the good girl, and he's the player. After all, it's a tale as old as time.

I drop my bags down on one of the benches in the study hall, pulling out my work for the period. The whole scene that I had with Jackson has made me fifteen minutes late, and I barely have any time to work on my homework. I sigh to myself, re-tieing my ponytail, the curls that escaped and were plastered on my face are now pulled back. The little stray pieces framing my face still fall out, but it's much better. Before I must have looked like a ravaged animal, the things Jackson must have thought…

I try to focus on my calculus homework, but my thoughts wander. I think about everything. From school to my friends, to my mom, to Jackson. The things in my life are all swimming around in my consciousness making it virtually impossible to concentrate. On top of all of this I have the misfortune of having Drew's lackeys, Calypso and Rachel, in my study hall. In case you haven't guessed the two of them don't study in study hall, choosing to gossip the entire period instead.

I give up on studying, deciding to just save it all for later. Calypso and Rachel are sitting very close to me, so I can't help but overhear their conversation.

"Honestly, it's so embarrassing for her, and us too." I try to shuffle inconspicuously closer to hear what Calypso is saying. I stop when she speaks up again. "I mean I can't believe that he dumped her. She's never been dumped. What does that say about her? And like, we're her friends so what does that say about us?"

Rachel bobs her head up and down to what Calypso is saying like she's spewing straight wisdom.

Rachel furrows her brow, thinking intently. I roll my eyes in disgust as I pretend to focus on the paper in my lap. Don't these two have a life?

"Well, I mean he is Percy Jackson, and everyone knows that he doesn't get dumped, so who can blame her!"

It takes me a moment to realize that they're talking about Drew, and when I realize this I unconsciously raise my eyebrows in surprise. Calypso and Rachel are Drew's most loyal subjects, so it's astounding that they would ever speak ill of her.

"Still, she's been getting so bitchy lately. Whining about totally dumb stuff like, who cares? Not me, that's for sure. And the scene that she caused on the first day of school is like so embarrassing. She totally made herself look like a loser, literally the whole school saw her. I say that it's time to dethrone the bitch."

At this point I'm practically craning my neck to hear, but they take no notice of me, still deep in their conversation. I'm surprised, partly because they want to get rid of Drew, the reigning Queen bee, and partly because Calypso actually used the word "dethrone" properly in a sentence.

I try to get a little closer, forgetting my morals in favour of some petty gossip about a girl I don't even like. I don't get to though, because my cover is blown when Mr. Mars walks down the hall calling out my name.

"Chase!" He says, and the supervising teacher puts her finger to her lip, shushing him.

"Shut up old lady," he responds to her. She looks shocked, and I feel a little bad for her as she scurries into the nearby office.

"Yeah Mr. Mars," I say as he sees me and walks to the bench that I'm sitting on. Mr. Mars never seeks out students unless it's an emergency, meaning this news could either be very good or very bad.

Mr. Mars sits down beside me, and Calypso and Rachel get up from behind me and leave. Great, now I'll probably never hear the rest of their conversation. I really need to get a life or something.

I look beside me at Mr. Mars. He's not very attractive, though he thinks he is. His greasy brown hair is tied back into a man bun under his baseball cap, and he wears shorts that are way too short. He's bulky, but not muscular, and about my height. I'm not quite sure how he managed to be such a good runner in high school, after all he certainly isn't built for it.

"We'll Chase, I don't normally do this, but I couldn't wait to tell you. I made the decision that you should be captain. I don't want to give it to Yew because he's a little twerp. So you better except."

I smile broadly, and resist the urge to get up and dance. I'm not very good so it would probably be pretty embarrassing. Even though it feels like Mr. Mars just yelled at me I'm still happy.

"Yeah, of course. Thanks Mr. Mars." I say looking at my homework awkwardly. Is he going to leave or…

He stays beside me smiling, and though I'm really happy he chose me I really want him to leave.

"Well thanks," I say hoping he takes the hint.

"You're welcome," he responds making no move to leave. Great, I guess I'll leave then.

"Well I better get going to my next class, I'll see you at practice Mr. Mars." I practically take off running, shoving my homework into my backpack as I leave.

"Okay, congratulations Chase!" He says. I don't turn around to see if he's still sitting. I know he's my coach and everything but god he's weird.

I smile though, and even skip a little down the halls, before remembering what people would think of me if they saw me. I walk normally, but for the rest of the day I don't stop smiling.

"Come on Annie please!" I roll my eyes at Thalia, who is sticking her lip out in a weak attempt at pouting. The act in itself is surprising, Thalia never pouts.

"I'll check with my mom, but I can't make any promises."

Katie squeals and claps her hand, and I laugh a little. Thalia, Silena and Katie are lucky, their parents are nowhere near as strict as Athena. If I don't tell Athena where I'm going, what I'm doing and who I'm going to be doing said activity with within three to five business days she'll flip.

I search for my mom's contact as Silena hovers over me, like she's checking to see if I'll actually call her. I hold up the phone to my ear as Katie says,

"Put it on speaker phone so we can all hear." Thalia swats her in the chest to shut her up.

"Annabeth, what is it?" My mother inquires, sounding more annoyed than worried.

"Oh hi, I was just uh wondering-," I stutter trying to come up with some way to convince my mother to let me go to a party hosted by the Stoll brothers,where I would not only break my curfew but also stay over at Thalia's after the party.

"Spit it out Annabeth, you're wasting my time."

I cringe at her harsh words.

"I need to work on a project with Katie, and Thalia needs help with some Science homework, so can I sleep over at Thalia's tonight?" I bite my nervously as I wait for her to answer. In front of me Silena raises a perfectly arched eyebrow, while Thalia gapes at me. I never lie to Athena, not even about little things.

On the other line I hear Athena sigh. I mutter a mental prayer to whatever god will hear me, hoping she will say yes.

Lately it feels like my friends and I have been drifting, and with this year being our last where the four of us will be together it's even more important that we make time for one another.

"I suppose you can, just make sure you're home early the next morning, Malcolm is coming home. I have to be out of town for a conference tonight anyways so I suppose that it will be good that you're not all alone for the night."

I let out a gasp of delight. Malcolm, my older brother is in university at Stanford. He's almost never home, and I miss him a lot.

'Malcolm is coming home?" I say, completely glossing over the fact that Athena is letting me stay over at Thalia's. She hates Thalia, believing she's a bad influence on me or something.

"Yes," Athena says exasperatedly. "He wanted it to be a surprise, but I guess it isn't any more." I roll my eyes, leaving it to Athena to ruin Malcolm's surprise. I can't even be mad at her, not when Malcolm is going to be home and I don't have to fend off Athena all by myself.

"Okay then, thanks. I'll be home early tomorrow. Bye."

Athena hangs up the phone, saying nothing. My three friends look at me, practically dying to hear my answer.

"She said yes, so you can all relax."

Katie hugs me, and I feel a smile grow on my face. Even Thalia has a small smirk as she leans against the lockers.

Silena opens her purse pulling out her phone and starts typing.

"Okay, so Charlie says the party starts at eight but we should be there around nine thirty so that we won't miss anything, but still be fashionably late."

I raise my eyebrows at this.

"It starts at eight? Well what time does it finish? Isn't that kind of late, and what time will we get home?"

Silena giggles while Thalia shakes her head.

"Jeez Annie," Thalia says, " I know you're a goody goody and all but seriously lighten up. This is our senior year, live on the wild side a little. Go to a party, stay until two in the morning, you're young!"

"Yeah, let's do it!" Katie says, chiming in.

I roll my eyes and smile at them, despite being a little uneasy.

"Fine. What's the worst that could happen?"

"Exactly!" Silena says, linking her arm with mine.

My three best friends smile at me, unaware of what that night would bring. The events that would unfold at the Stoll's party would tear some of us apart, while bringing others closer together. Sometimes I wonder if I had just said no, if things would have turned out the way they did. Probably, but it's nice to think that I could pinpoint the exact moment things went from okay to bad, to absolute hell. I didn't know it then, but that day was the last truly normal one that the four of us would have. If I had known I would have made it more memorable, but I suppose then it wouldn't have been very normal. I would think about this day again wishing that everything would go back to the way it was before. It wasn't right then though. It's like we were all in a glass box, someone looking at us from the outside, ready to shatter the little world we had created for ourselves. By that point the glass had begun to crack, and soon it would shatter completely. All we could hope was that the shards wouldn't cut us to deep as everything fell apart.

 **A/N: So that was chapter 3 of Illusions! I know that the beginning is a little slow, but I need some time before all the action can happen so I can build plot and character relationships and backstories. It's a lot of work! Maybe I should just give an itinerary of every single character's backstory and their contribution to the plot. Just kidding, that would be annoying. Anyways the next couple chapters will get lots more interesting! I will try to update soon, like within a month. I'm less busy now so it's easier for me to write. Once again thanks so much everyone, I love you all! Please review to tell me what you think, or make suggestions. Until next time!**

 **Xoxo RedHeadReader22**


	5. The Girl in the Mirror

**A/N: Hey guys, unfortunately I have some very bad news. Do to some circumstances beyond my control I will no longer be able to finish this story. I'm really sorry about this, I have just been so busy and this will be the last chapter. Thank you to all that supported me and I'm sorry… April fools! Just kidding, I'm finishing this fanfic! Sorry if I gave anyone a mini heart attack, it wasn't my intention. So sorry for the super long time with no update but here is the next chapter of Illusions! Make sure to follow, favorite and review! Enjoy!**

 **Disclaimer: I obviously don't own the PJO series or the characters, Rick R. does. I do own this story though so y'all better not steal it! (I don't know why I wrote y'all I'm not from Texas).**

You see, there's two types of people. The ones who live for parties and the poor decisions that accompany it, and the one's who wish everyone inside those red solo cup infested houses would die a slow painful death. Try and guess which one I am.

There's a special place in my heart that's reserved for parties, a very small miniscule spot where I've also stored my eighth grade graduation and the time I got my period in Science class and didn't realise until Luke Castellan pointed it out to the entire class. I've tried my best to eliminate these things from my thoughts as much as possible, only taking them out of their sacred spot when I start to think a little too highly of myself and need to remember that I'm not actually all that spectacular.

So how did I get roped into going to the Stoll's party, possible one of the biggest of both mine and pretty much everyone else's high school career? I'm still asking myself that question.

I didn't complain though, because my three best friends wanted to go so badly, and when the three people you love the most in the world ask you to spend one night with your other hormonal classmates instead of rewatching The Office for the hundredth time you suck it up and go with them.

"Oh Annabeth I'm going to give you a huge makeover and you'll actually look good!"

I turn my head to Silena who's sitting next to me. She flashes her pearly white teeth, and I give her a meek smile. I look in the rearview mirror at Thalia who's staring at me from the back seat of my car. She quirks an eyebrow and I shrug at her. I've long ago stopped trying to figure out if Silena is trying to give a backhanded compliment or just doesn't know what she's saying. Maybe it's a bit of both.

"Thanks, but I think I'm okay Sil."

I focus my attention back to the traffic in front of me, turning off of the freeway to Thalia's exit. From behind me I hear her pipe up.

"You know if you actually turn down 63rd street instead it'll be-"

"Okay thanks Thals," I say as I turn down 72nd. She lets out an exasperated sigh and I smirk. Thalia may possibly be one of the worst backseat drivers that I've ever met. She's always trying to give me instructions on a route that will shave 37 seconds off of our arrival time. I like to be on time, heck I'm almost always five minutes early, but no one is as nuts about time as Thalia is. It's frustrating, but I usually tune most of it out.

For the rest of the drive we ride in silence. Eventually Silena starts to fiddle with the radio, switching between stations before she finally settles on some annoying and slightly repetitive pop song. After about 30 seconds I can't take it anymore, shutting it off more aggressively than I probably needed to. I wait for her to get mad at me, to inform me that as passenger it is her right to choose the music and that as the driver I must respect her choices and above all never turn off the music. She doesn't though, and when I glance at her her head is rested on the window. She looks out at the blurred buildings as we drive past them. Her dark hair shields her features, her face hidden.

Finally we arrive at Thalia's building. I raise my head to look up at it, though it hurts my neck. Thalia's building is one of the tallest in New York, it's at least sixty stories, and on the very top floor is the Grace residence. I grab my duffel bag that I picked up on the way past my house, and smile at Henri the doorman. We all get in the elevator, while some slow jazz music plays. Thalia starts to breath shallowly, and I grip her hand. Her breathing evens out a little. When she was little Thalia got trapped in an elevator, and since then she's hated them. It's not the best fear considering she'd have to walk over sixty flights of stairs each way to get from her apartment to the lobby. So at least twice a day Thalia has to brave the minute ride up or down, though she can barely stand it.

The elevator slows down to a stop and the doors open. Thalia walks out slowly, though I can tell that she's itching to run out.

"Hallelujah, the week's done!" Thalia says, walking past the foyer and into the livingroom where she flops onto the nearest couch. Next to me Katie drops her backpack and meets Thalia in the living room, plopping herself onto a grey chaise lounge.

"Oh I know, I was seriously doubting that I could get out of the last period without punching someone," Katie says as she leans back, putting a hand to her forehead like the ladies in old Hollywood films used to do.

The four of us laugh at this. Katie wouldn't hurt a fly, much less hit someone. Now Thalia on the other hand…

Just then my stomach grumbles, and I realise that I haven't eaten all day.

"Can we order a pizza or something?" I ask to no one in particular. Silena nods her head while she bites her glossed pink lip.

"Yeah, that'd be a good idea, especially if we're going to drink tonight. Wouldn't want to be leaning over the toilet before the party even starts!"

Thalia and Katie give a small cheer in agreeance, and Thalia even starts to chant pizza once or twice. I roll my eyes. I said I would go to the party but there's no way I'm going to get drunk, especially at the Stoll's house with basically all of Goode High in attendance.

"Yeah okay, you three can get drunk and I'll be the designated driver."

"No Annie, Jason can drive us and then you can have a good time too! You're so uptight, you need to let loose, have some fun," Thalia says.

"Yeah Annabeth live on the wild side!" Katie pipes in. I let out an exasperated sigh as I pull out my phone and look up the number to the nearest pizza place. I walk out of the living room and into the kitchen, where it's quieter. Once I'm done ordering I head back to where my friends are, only to discover that they aren't there.

"Hey thanks for ditching me guys!" I shout, hoping that they'll hear me.

"Jeez Annie calm down we're just in my room," I hear Thalia yell back, her voice coming from down the hall.

"Okay!" I respond, walking towards her room, past the pictures of little Thalia and Jason hanging on the walls.

As I enter Thalia's room I automatically wish that I'd walked out. Katie is sitting in Thalia's white leather desk chair while Silena plucks at her eyebrows. On the floor of the bedroom Silena's pink bag is open as various cosmetics spill out of it onto the floor. Thalia sits cross legged beside the bag picking up various bottles and tubes and reading them confusedly.

"What the hell do you need lip plumping serum for?" She asks bewilderedly.

"To plump my lips. Obviously," Silena responds waving an eyelash curler around. She then goes back primping Katie who looks excited and just a little bit terrified.

Under her breath Thalia mumbles something, but it's too quiet for me to hear. That's probably a good thing knowing how profane my raven haired friend can be.

"Well I'm just going to sit back and read my book while you guys groom yourselves," I say sinking into the white and black sheets of Thalia's queen bed. I pull out my book, To The Lighthouse by Virginia Woolf, and open it to where I left off. I barely read a sentence before my book is yanked out of my hands by Silena.

"Oh no, don't get too comfortable. You're next."

I scowl at Silena as I snatch my book back, flipping the pages aggressively to find my spot. I know that arguing with Silena is useless, so I might as well just let her do whatever she needs to do as long as I don't look like a powdered donut with lipstick.

At some point Thalia turns on the music and begins to sing along. Now I don't know if you've ever heard what a cat being run over by a tricycle sounds like, but if you have that's almost exactly how Thalia sounds when she's singing.

"OH MY GOD THALIA SHUT UP!" Katie says, though given that she's laughing it's not very convincing.

Thalia just shakes her head and turns the music up, belting out the lyrics louder than I thought was possible. I grab the nearest pillow and chuck it at her head. It hits her square in the face and she stops singing, looking stunned. We all stare at each other before a smile grows on Thalia's face and we all break out laughing.

I'm not sure what was so funny, or if anything really was but the four of us start laughing, and we can't stop. Maybe it's because on that night in Thalia's room with some of her crappy punk 90's music playing in the background we realised how lucky we were to have each other. I said that these were the three people that I cared about the most in the world, and it's true. I'd walk to the ends of the earth for any of them, and in that moment with all of us together I couldn't be happier. If the world had ended right in that moment I would have been okay. When I'm with them I'm filled with so much joy, I feel whole. They make me feel like I'm good enough, that it doesn't matter whether I'm smart or dumb or ugly or beautiful. The world starts to fade away, like we're the only people on the planet, and that's perfectly fine with me.

Eventually the laughter dies down and I see tears beginning to spill out of Silena's eyes, and they fall slowly down her cheeks.

"Hey, you okay Sil?" I ask her, putting my arm around her shoulders. She's so thin and frail, I mean she's always been skinny but these days I just, I don't know.

She nods her head, quickly brushing them away with the back of her hands.

"I just really love you guys, and I'm so glad you're my best friends."

Inside my chest my heart feels as though it could burst, and I pull her into a hug. Her head rests on my shoulder, and I lean into her body. Despite the fact that she's wearing heels she's still an inch or two shorter than me. I hold her close for a minute even though I can feel the tears wetting my sweater. Then Silena unwraps her arms from around me and I take a step back. She wipes her eyes a final time and other than the fact that her eyes are a little red you wouldn't even know that she was crying.

"How do I look?" She asks us laughing a little.

"Beautiful," Katie says smiling back at her. Silena rolls her eyes laughing again

"Okay Annabeth it's your turn now!" She says, leading her over to her little station.

"Oh I'm really okay but thanks-" I'm cut off by Silena as she pushes me into the chair and crouches in front of me, staring at my face, her eyebrows scrunched together.

"Shhh, wait until I finish." She says putting a finger to my lip. She starts to dig into one of her makeup bags, but when she looks up and sees the fear on my face she sighs. "Don't worry, you're still going to look like you. Just a bit of a glammed up version."

I let out a sigh of relief, and my shoulders sink as I relax a little bit. I trust Silena, she's not going to make me look like some kind of caked up girl that works at the sephora on Fifth Avenue. At least that's what I keep telling myself.

She takes out a gold bottle and begins to squirt some shiny goop into her hands. She sniffs the substance on her hands before rubbing them together.

"Um where's that going?" I ask her nervously.

"Chill, it's just going to relax your curls, and then I'm going to take a curler and make them a little bigger. They'll be more beach wavy than ringlets." She holds her hands open, and I give her a nod before she begins to rub the goop into my hair. I close my eyes as she begins to massage my scalp. Maybe this isn't so bad after all.

The pizza arrives and Silena takes a break from primping me so we can eat. As we sit on the floor of Thalia's room with the pizza box between us we talk about whatever.

"So Silena," Katie says, "got any gossip for us?" Thalia laughs maliciously and leans in. Silena sighs sadly,

"For once, no. There's nothing going on in our boring old school."

"Oh rats," Katie says, taking a big bite of her pizza. Suddenly, I remember what I heard in study hall earlier today.

" I do!" I say raising my hand in the air.

"Oooh, spill Annie," Thalia says.

I tell them about what I heard Calypso and Rachel talking about in study hall, that they're secretly planning to backstab Drew and about her and Percy's breakup being pretty messy.

"Wow," Silena says, "So there's going to be a new Queen Bitch at Goode."

"Silena that's awful!" Katie says covering her mouth. "They're seriously going to turn on their friend like that? I knew they were horrible but… " Katie trails off as she looks off into the distance.

"Yeah, that's nuts," Thalia says as she shoves the rest of her crust in her mouth, "but I want to know what happened with Drew and Percy. I mean they're perfect for each other. They're like the poster couple for self absorbed assholes. Seriously they deserve each other so they can make one another as miserable as they are."

"Thalia that's a little harsh," I say, shaking my head at her.

She lets out an exasperated sigh, "Fine, but they're both awful people so it's a match made in heaven. They were nauseatingly sick in the beginning, I thought they would definitely be endgame. Then Percy ended it with no notice whatsoever."

"I agree with Thalia, something fishy is going on there," Silena says. Katie nods as she chews, speaking up once she's swallowed.

"Do you think he likes someone else and that's why he got rid of her?"

My heart sinks at the thought of Percy with another girl, but I don't know why. The whole conversation is making me uneasy and I want to get off of it as soon as possible.

"I don't think he's capable of having any feelings towards anyone other than himself. Maybe hate, but that's probably saved solely for me," I say, only half joking.

"I don't know," Silena says. "It would make sense. He has been different after he came back from summer vacation. Maybe he's changing his player ways? I mean it's been a couple weeks and he hasn't dated anyone since Drew. That's like a new record for him being on the market... Oh he probably does! Who do you think it is?"

Katie's eyebrows furrow, and I see her mouthing the names of some of the girls in our grade to ourselves.

"I don't know," I say to them a little more hostile than I intended. "Whoever it is is going to be someone spoiled airhead who he's going to parade around for everyone to see." Katie nods.

"Yeah I-" I cut her off quickly.

"I mean I don't know why he picks girls like that. He could have any girl he wanted so why is he only going for one type?"

My three friends stare at me, as though I've grown another head. I can feel the heat rising to my cheeks, my brain trying to think of anything that can explain what I just said.

"I mean, it's pretty interesting," I say quickly. "Maybe he thinks that the only kind of girl that he can be with is shallow and dumb, you know? Maybe he just thinks so lowly of himself and that's the way he acts the way he does. He hates himself so much that he sabotages any healthy relationship that he could have…" I trail off as I see their faces. They're staring at me perplexed. I take a big gulp, waiting for them to reply.

"Are you trying to justify my dumb cousin's actions?" Thalia asks pointedly.

"Yes, I mean… no. All I'm trying to say is that he's a lot more complex than at first glance and that maybe if he went for a different type of girl then he wouldn't be so … awful."

Katie nods warily.

"Yeah, he's pretty mysterious. That's what makes him so hot though," she says trying to help me out.

"Exactly!" I say. It takes me a moment before I realise my mistake. My cheeks are starting to heat up. They know, they have to. I've been basically defending him this entire time and I just admitted that he's attractive. I might as well walk around with a tee shirt saying "I love Percy Jackson." I don't though. Love him I mean. Like maybe, but not even that. I don't know what I feel, I just know that what I do feel I'm not supposed to.

Silena has been silent this entire time, and I glance over at her. She's staring at me, biting her lip. She always does this when she's trying to decide something. I clasp my hands, my palms slicked with sweat.

"Annabeth," she says very seriously, "do you like Percy?"

The room is silent that you could cut through the tension with a knife. Then suddenly Thalia bursts into laughter.

"Annie? Like Percy - that's - that's," she clutches her stomach and lies down as she continues to laugh. Even Katie smiles and giggles a little. I however, am not laughing. I look like a deer caught in headlights, surprised and scared out of my wits.

Thalia quickly realises that neither Silena nor I are laughing and she abruptly stops.

"Oh Annie you don't."

I rub my eyes, leaning back on the foot of Thalia's bed. After a moment I look up at them. Silena's emotionless, like her face has been carved out of stone. Thalia's eyes are wide, like someone just told her that ice cream causes cancer or something. I can't bare to look at Katie, what she must think of me.

"I don't know," I say honestly. And it's true, I have absolutely no idea. Percy Jackson confuses me endlessly, I can't even sort out my feelings for him. Is it love, is it hate, is it both?

"What do you mean you don't know, how do you not know?" Thalia says angrily. Katie rests a hand on her arm, as if that gesture will automatically calm her down.

"I mean I don't know," I say through clenched teeth. I take a deep breath before continuing. "He aggravates me endlessly, I could just punch him right in his stupid perfect teeth. I know that. But when I'm around him, when we aren't fighting and we're civil I just… It feels like my heart is beating so hard that it's going to fall out of my chest. I can barely breathe around him. I feel as though I could melt into a puddle and fly away at the same time. The way I feel is completely irrational, hell it's pretty messed up but I can't help it. I keep telling myself that it's going to pass but it's not and I'm scared. I felt like I couldn't tell you guys because I didn't want you to get freaked out, but now I guess it's out in the open. So tell me how stupid I am. I know."

To my surprise none of them say anything. I think that may be even worse. I just want one of them to say something, anything.

"I'm going to get a coke," Thalia says, getting up and walking out of the room. Okay, so maybe not anything.

I lean back into the bed, feeling a headache coming on. I hate Percy Jackson. I don't, but I feel like I could, I wish I could.

"Okay, let's get your makeup done." Silena says to me. I smile at her, and head back over to the chair.

We sit in silence for a couple minutes, before Silena says,

"How long? I mean how long have you felt this way about Percy?"

I look at her in the eyes, and I automatically know that she doesn't hate my guts. This is why I love Silena, she doesn't judge you, she's understanding.

"I don't have an exact date, but basically since high school started. It's just intensified a little since after this summer. I know it's stupid, but I can't help it. It'll pass, it has to."

Silena sighs as she dabs my face.

"Annabeth it's going to all work out. I know that it doesn't seem this way now but it will, trust me."

"Thanks Silena," I say. Somehow Silena always knows the right thing to say.

"And you know," she says. "I don't think Percy really hates you as much as you think he does."

I give her a small smile, wishing that she could be right. She's not though, today's events earlier today are perfect evidence of that. Percy will continue to loathe me and I'll continue to hide my feelings...

Several eons pass before Silena backs away, chewing on the tip of some kind of pencil intended for my lips.

"What?" I say, as panic begins to rise inside of me. "Oh god I probably look like Drew and her cronies don't I? Great."

Silena smiles and shakes her head. She then beckons Thalia and Katie over. I probably look so fake that she's calling them over and we can all have a good laugh about this. Fantastic. To my surprise though, they don't start laughing at me. Katie's grinning from ear to ear and when Thalia looks at me she drops her pizza.

"Is it really that bad?" I ask touching my cheeks.

"Don't touch your face!" Silena says as she swats away my hands. "And Annabeth, you look amazing."

"Yeah Annie you're beautiful," Katie says. I roll my eyes at them. I'm not beautiful.

"See for yourself then," Thalia says, leading me over to the mirror.

I stand in front of the mirror, my mouth slightly agape. The girl who stares back isn't me. The girl in the mirror has soft flowing blonde curls, not frizzy ringlets. Her eyes, lined with black liner are awake, smouldering. My skin isn't blotchy or red, it's seemingly flawless. The girl in the mirror looks like me, but beautiful. I never thought as myself as pretty, and I've been fine with that. In fact I hated the pretty girls, the one's with shiny hair and perfect skin. It isn't until now that I wished I was like them.

The girl in front of me is me, but I feel like a whole new person. I feel confident, sure of myself. I smile at Silena before running over to hug her.

"Silena thank you so much!" I say to her. She laughs,

"Annie you're beautiful all I did was accentuated your already perfect features." Thalia and Katie nod along to what she's saying. I release her from my embrace and walk back to the floor length mirror admiring myself.

"Now let's finish your look with a great outfit!" Silena says as she looks at me, waiting for my answer.

Now normally I'd never let Silena dress me up, but then again I'd probably never let her do my makeup. But with my face and hair all done to perfection my grey cardigan and jeans just don't seem like enough. For tonight, just for tonight I'll let myself get all primped up. Afterall, just because I get done up for some party doesn't mean I'm prissy or narcissistic.

Tonight I'm not Annabeth Chase, the girl with five books in her bag at all times and who has a picture of her cat as her lock screen photo. No, tonight I'm Annabeth Chase, the smart pretty girl who exudes confidence. And the new and improved Annabeth needs a killer outfit.

"Yeah sure, dress me up!"

Silena squeals with delight and even Thalia and Katie look excited. For the next half an hour the four of us rip apart Thalia's closet taking pieces from both her clothes and the extras that Silena brought "in case of an emergency."

Finally the four of us stand in the mirror putting the finishing touches on ourselves. Thalia looks every bit punk in her black ripped jeans and sheer top with a grey bandeau underneath. Her ears are studded with little jewels, and her short black hair pulled back into a pony. Her electric blue eyes pop with the smoky eye that Silena did around them.

"How do I look?" Katie asks me. She fiddles with the hems of her black babydoll dress.

"Drop dead gorgeous. I especially love the wedges," I say, gesturing to her tan shoes.

"Oh Annabeth you look so amazing, you're going to turn every guy's head in the entire place. And probably some girls' too!" I laugh with her as I hold her hands.

Now, I'm not self obsessed or anything, in fact I'm probably whatever the opposite of that is but I feel pretty. I'm wearing a velvet spaghetti tank top with white jeans ripped at the knee. On my wrists are a few bracelets, and I'm wearing my grey converse. Afterall I'm still Annabeth.

While Katie goes to help Silena in the bathroom Thalia and I stand beside each other awkwardly.

"Look I'm not going to try to understand why you like, or think you like Percy but I'm not going to get in the way of anything, and I support you. You're my best friend since like forever and I love you okay?"

I stare at Thalia, shocked that she's actually sort of apologizing to me.

"Thanks Thals," I say pulling her into a hug.

"So we're good?" She asks.

"Yeah," I laugh. "We're good."

"Okay is everyone ready?" Silena says stepping out of the bathroom. She's wearing a light pink camisole and a short black sequined skirt. She looks like a barbie, her eyeliner winged to perfection, but she still looks normal. She still looks like Silena.

"Wow," I say to Silena. She gives a little bow.

"Okay we want to be fashionably late not rude late, let's get out of here!" she says. The three of us cheer and we all shuffle out of the room and are heading to the front door when Thalia calls out.

"Wait!" She says, and scurries back to her room. I roll my eyes at her. She nags us the entire time that we're going to be late but then when we're about to leave she's not ready.

"Okay now we're good." I look at her pointedly, but then notice the gold glimmer in her hand. Thalia notices this and smiles broadly.

"You left this here a while ago and I just found it. I thought this would go with your outfit tonight." She opens up her palm and my eyes widen. She's holding a thin gold chain with a little ruby stone pendant.

"My necklace!" I exclaim. I turn around and lift up my hair, letting her fasten it around my neck. When I was born my dad bought the necklace, the ruby being my birthstone. When she fastens the necklace I hold the stone between my fingers. I was devastated when I thought I lost it, but now it's found, the necklace feeling familiar against my skin.

We walk into the dining room where Thalia's brother Jason is taking several bottles of alcohol out of the liquor cabinet and putting them in a black bag.

"Hey Jasey what'cha doing?" Thalia says creeping up behind him. Jason jumps in surprise and nearly drops the vodka that he's holding.

"What the hell Thals?" He says scowling at her. She quickly takes a picture of him holding the vodka beside the bag filled with several other bottles of various alcohol.

"Can you give us a ride to the Stoll's tonight? Now before you say no remember that I now have a picture of you stealing booze from dad's cabinet proving that cousin Theo **(A/N: Short for Theseus :P) wasn't the one snagging it."**

Jason lets out a grunt of frustration before zipping up the bag.

"I can't sorry I promised Piper I'd pick her up. Maybe next time Thals," he says smirking.

"Then just take the SUV and all of us can fit. Have fun trying to park it though!"

Jason's scowl deepens and Katie giggles. She's an only child and thinks that siblings arguing is just the greatest thing.

"Fine, but you owe me!" He says walking out to grab his jacket.

"Thanks bro!" she calls to his retreating figure. "Let's go before he leaves us," she says, and we hurry after him. The elevator is just closing but Jason holds his hand out and stops it.

"Thanks," Thalia says.

The five of us stand in the elevator in silence, and I whistle quietly to myself.

"You look nice Annabeth," Jason says to me. I raise my eyebrow.

"Oh, thanks," I say, staring at my shoes, suddenly fascinated with the laces of my Chuck Taylor's.

"Pig," Thalia says. "You have a girlfriend."

Jason snorts at Thalia's comment.

"Chill I'm just telling Annabeth, who I've known since kindergarten that she looks nice. Stop being such a pain in the-"

"Guys! Can you not fight, please! We've got a long drive ahead of us so be civil okay?" Silena says as the elevator doors open.

"What do you mean we have a long drive? The Stoll's live on the West side not in Queen's," I say.

Katie's eyes widen a little.

"Yeah but the party's at their weekend home, and it's like a 45 minute drive," she says a little nervously.

I look at the four of them quizzically.

"But it's already quarter to nine. That means we won't get there until 9:30. What time does this thing end?"

"Two or three probably," Jason says nonchalantly. I stare between my three friends, but none of them say anything. We've reached the car now and Jason unlocks the doors. I slide into the back seat while Thalia hops in the front and Katie and Silena crawl into the third row.

"We're not staying that long though, right?" I say to them. None of them answer me, suddenly all very caught up in some task or another.

"Great," I mumble to myself.

On the way to Piper's Thalia and Jason argue about whether or not Piper should sit in the front, with Thalia eventually winning. So when Jason pulls up to Piper's house she comes into the backseat with me.

"Hey guys," she says to us. She's responded to by a couple of hey's or hi's.

"Hey Piper," I say to her. "You look great." And I mean it. Piper is gorgeous, she could be a model like her mom. She's wearing a champagne dress with some feathers woven into her caramel hair.

"Oh Annabeth you look absolutely stunning, I love your top!" I laugh and for the rest of the car ride we talk. I've realised that I really like Piper, she's super cool. I've always known her because she's Jason's girlfriend but I haven't really gotten to know her. In fact she's so easy to talk to that it feels like we've only been in the car for five minutes by the time we pull up to the Stoll's. I feel my heart starting to beat inside of my chest. This wasn't a good idea, why am I even here? Piper senses my unease and places her hand overtop of mine. I'm fine, I can do this, I'm Annabeth Chase and tonight I'm confident. Afterall it's just a high school party. I'll stay for a couple hours, hang out with my friends and then leave. It will all be fine.

"Ready?" Piper asks me. I nod my head, taking a deep breath before opening the car door.

"How bad could it be?"

Perhaps if I had known what the events of the Stoll's party would cause I wouldn't have gone. Maybe everything wouldn't have turned out the way it did. Probably not, but it's nice to dream. I went into the Stoll's weekend home just outside of Manhattan with every intention of having a good time, and for parts of it I did. But the results left me confused beyond belief questioning everything and everyone, but most importantly questioning myself. It's just a building afterall, but the secrets and lies that were held in there were not so simple. I was walking into the lion's den unknowingly, and when I eventually learned exactly what happened all I could do was be grateful that I didn't get too scratched up.

 **A/N: So that was chapter 4! The next chapter is going to be all about the party and there may be some Percabeth, but I'm not making any promises… What did you think of my little joke in the author's note? Did anybody believe me? Let me know in the comments section. Once again thanks and talk to ya later!**

 **-Xoxo RedHeadReader22**


	6. The Stoll's Party

**A/N: Happy Good Friday all! Thought as a little Easter treat I'd update today Have a great weekend even if you don't celebrate Easter. Just want to say a quick thanks to everyone who has supported this story so far. You're awesome! Make sure to follow, favourite and review so you can know exactly when I've added a new chapter. That's all I have to say, thank you all!**

 **Disclaimer: I don't own the PJO series or any of these characters. I'm borrowing them from the great Rick Riordan because I am too simple minded to come up with my own characters and I know they will never compare to the one's that he has written. (Like come on Percy and Annabeth are literal couple goals!)**

The party is already in full swing by the time we get there; I can hear the music from over a hundred yards away. Beer cans litter the front lawn and I can already see a couple um… let's say they're cuddling. God, it's disgusting.

"Let's go," Piper says. She grabs my arm and I give her a warm but uneasy smile as we head in.

"Wow, the Stoll's house is really nice." I suddenly feel small in the ornate entryway, and not just because of it'a sheer size. Piper nods,

"Yeah and this is just their weekend home." She walks over to a closet and hangs up her jacket.

"Is our stuff going to be safe here?" I ask. Piper nods her head.

"Yeah, if you put your jackets and stuff at the back no one takes it." I nod at her impressed and hand her my bag. Inside is my keys, phone and of course a book.

"You ready?" She asks. I can barely hear her, the music beating so loudly that it's already starting to give me a headache.

"No!" I say. She must not have heard me because she grabs my arm and pulls me into the mess of teenagers. Okay, calm down Annabeth it's just a party. What's so bad about a party? I mean there's drinking, drugs, rape… okay maybe just don't think about it too much. I mean there's probably not a single person (other than me) in this room thinking, so how hard can it be?

Piper pulls me onto the dance floor and we start dancing. After a song or two I'm almost completely relaxed. So okay, maybe parties aren't that bad, but this isn't exactly going to be an every weekend sort of activity. Soon we find Thalia, Katie and Silena and the five of us dance. Then Jason comes to see Piper and the two of them go off somewhere.

The music stops for a minute, and the room grows quieter, though not completely silent as people chat with one another. Silena looks around the room worriedly, her eyebrows furrowing. I lightly touch her shoulder and she jumps,

"Oh Annabeth it's just you," she says as her chest rises up and down rapidly. After a moment or two her breaths begins to even out.

"Yeah just me Sil," I say to her. "Hey are you okay?" I ask. I know it's a party but Silena seems nervous.

"Oh I'm fine, just looking to see if Charlie is here." She gives me a reassuring smile before pushing her way through some people, over to Thalia. It makes sense, Silena was just looking for Charlie, her boyfriend, and was getting worried when she didn't see him. She was so caught up in looking for him that she didn't notice that I was still there. I keep telling myself this, in order to reassure myself that nothing is going on. Silena's fine, I've just been reading too many books and I'm looking into everything for a deeper meaning. This is real life, there's nothing going on beneath the surface, everything is explicitly boring and mundane.

Though for the entire night I can't shake the feeling that something erie is going on. I'm just being stupid, nothing is weird, it's a party. The only thing odd is that I'm here rather than doing some homework. From now on I'm going to get the full party experience. So slowly, despite my entire brain telling me that it's the wrong thing to do I grab a cooler from a bucket of ice and open it. It's sweet but leaves a funny aftertaste in my mouth. Clutching my drink I make my way through the throng of people to where Katie, Silena, and Thalia are. The music has started up again and the pulsing beats pound in my head, as though the music is coming straight from my brain. It's so loud that the floorboards beneath my feet are vibrating.

"You want to go somewhere a little quieter?" I ask my friends.

"What!?" Thalia yells over the music. I let out an exasperated sigh, the music is so loud you can't hear a thing.

"I SAID DO YOU WANT TO GO SOMEWHERE QUIETER?"

"OKAY!" Katie says, and the four of us push through the crowd of teens grinding on each other. Somehow we end up in the kitchen, where a group of guys are playing beer pong. Amongst the group is Silena's boyfriend Charlie Beckendorf. Everyone calls him Beckendorf except for Silena, who calls him Charlie, or sometimes Charles.

"Charlie!" She calls out to him. He immediately looks up, his eyes locking with her as he throws the ping pong ball sinking the ball into the cup across the table.

Cheers erupt from around the table, guys high fiving each other and taking shots. One of them yells,

"Dude that was two cups!" To which a chorus of other "dudes" start yelling.

Ugh, I can smell the testosterone from here.

"Hey Sil," he says pulling her into a close embrace. He kisses the top of her head before settling his large hand on her lower back. She leans into him so that they're so close they could be forged together.

'Hey guys, enjoying the party?" He says. I nod, smiling at him. I'm not very close with Beckendorf given that him and Percy are best friends but he's still really nice. Not very talkative but still, nice.

"Hey um Charlie," Silena says playing with the hem of his shirt nervously. "Can we go somewhere to talk about-"

"Yeah of course," he says. His eyes dart around the room quickly before he settles his gaze back on us. "You don't mind if I steal Silena for a bit?"

"She's all yours," Katie says, smirking. The pair of them hurry off.

"You know what they're going to do now right?" Thalia says coyly. I roll my eyes at her. "Going to do the nasty, boogie with a noogie, frick to the frack-"

"You're gross Thalia, and they're just going to talk," Katie says innocently. I look at her, my eyebrows raised before her eyes widen a little. Thalia and I laugh, and Thalia keeps laughing long past the point where it's funny.

"Hey Thals maybe lay off the alcohol a little," I say to her, eyeing the nearly empty cup in her hand.

"Oh I'm fine!" she says swatting her hand. "Besides it's a party! You gotta have fun at a party! You should go have fun Annie," she remarks, hiccupping. I sigh at the state of Thalia, raising my hands in defeat. If she wants to have a killer headache in the morning fine by me.

"Now," Thalia says to Katie and I, "I'm going to get another re-fill!" She cheers. One of the guys playing beer pong cheers too. Thalia saunters away to find more alcohol as I look at her nervously.

"She'll be fine," Katie says. She nudges me with her elbow and nods in the direction of the party.

"Looks like it's just you and me now. You want to go back in?" I say taking her hint.

"I mean I guess if you want to we can!" She says, and I laugh. We go to what I guess is the game room just off of the main room. There's lots of people and you still have a clear view of all the festivities, but it's quieter. Katie and I talk for a bit, until I notice Travis Stoll lingering near us. After a minute he seems to have worked up the courage to come and talk to us.

"Hey ladies enjoying the party?" He asks wrapping his arms around us. I shrug him off but Katie just giggles. Oh god Katie, please don't have a crush on a Stoll brother.

"It's good," I say. Travis waves his hand at me, completely ignoring what I have to saying , staring at Katie. Barf.

"So Katie, you like flowers right?" He asks her. Smooth Stoll, real smooth.

"Oh yeah I love flowers," Katie says, giggling again. Travis laughs with her. What's so funny?

"Well this house has a really great garden, do you want me to show it to you?" Yeah, and then he can show her his room too. I swear this boy has the subtlety of an elephant at a pet store. Does that even make any sense?

Katie looks over Travis' shoulder at me as though asking if she can go with him. "Go" I mouth to her, waving my hand for more effect.

"Sure I'd love that," she says to him, once again… giggling. Travis leads her away from me, and I'm just about to turn to someone when I realise that all my friends ditched me. I'm completely alone. What a great party this is, am I right?

I'm looking around and not paying attention to where I'm going so it's not surprise that I bump into someone. I stumble back a few steps, and when I look up I'm shocked. I haven't seen him in a couple of years, but I'd know him anywhere. The sandy blonde hair and blue eyes, and the thin white scar that runs down his face. Luke Castellan is back in town.

"Are you okay?" His deep voice says over the music. I nearly swoon. I open my mouth to speak but the words won't come out. I close it and just nod my head instead. He laughs, and I smile broadly at him.

He ushers me over to one of the sitting rooms, away from the crowd. There's a couple people in there but other than that it's basically empty. He guides me over to a couch and we sit down.

"Sorry for bumping into you," he says scratching the back of his head. I can see his arm muscles flexing and I gulp.

"It's fine, I wasn't paying attention," I respond touching his arm. He glances at my hand and I quickly retract it. I think he's going to scowl in disgust, like he used to when we were younger but he smiles, showing off his perfectly straight white teeth.

"You're cute," he says to me, moving closer. I feel my breath catch on my throat.

So quick story. When we were in middle school I had the biggest crush on Luke, though he didn't spare me a second glance. He was perfect, godlike. I was more like oh my god what a nerd like. Then after ninth grade Luke moved away, but no one knew why. Some say he got into some trouble with the law, others say he went to a school for super amazing people. There's lots of stories about why he left, but no one really knows. It's been a few years, and I haven't even thought about Luke, but now he's back and so is my little crush on him. Wow, he's even cuter than before, and his arms…

"Hey, are you good?" He asks. I snap out of my daze and realise I haven't give him any kind of response.

"Sorry, I just got distracted," I say looking down at my hands, which are very close to his.

"You don't have to apologize," he says. Did I also mention that he's the sweetest guy in the world?

"Oh, sorry," I say again, immediately cringing at myself. Luke laughs at me, and I feel my cheeks heating up.

"What's your name?" he asks. My heart sinks a little at the fact that he doesn't remember me, but why would he? Our longest conversation was him saying "You're weird," and me saying "Yeah I know." Not exactly what I would call relationship building blocks.

"Annabeth," I say to him. He moves closer to me, so that we're almost touching. I can smell his cologne. It's a little too masculine and woodsy but still nice.

"Pretty name for a pretty girl," he remarks. My cheeks heat up even more, and I touch them self consciously.

"I'm not-" I start to say, but he cuts me off.

"Look I've been away from town for a while so I may be a little unfamiliar with some stuff. You go to Goode right?" I nod at him. "Okay good. So maybe I'll see you again?"

He grabs my hand and I think I could die right there and I'd be happy.

"Sure," I say my voice practically a squeak. He smirks, as though he knows how amazing he is.

"So see you around then."

I bite my lip as he walks away, and once he's gone I let out a squeal. Now I'm not the kind of girl who squeals but when Luke Castellan holds my hand and basically says he wants to see me again what else am I supposed to do? I quickly compose myself, getting up and heading back out to the main party area. Who knows, maybe I'll bump into Channing Tatum and he'll serenade me with his dance moves.

The music is so loud that I can barely think. It's like the noise is so great that it's clogging my other senses. I'm so focused on trying to find my friends that I don't notice the person coming up behind me until they're practically pressed up against me, their hand on my waist.

"What do you say you and I go and dance?" They say huskily whispering into my ear. I feel shivers go down my spine before turning around.

"In your dreams Jackson." I respond scowling at him. He doesn't say anything back, his mouth just opens slightly. I take this time to get a better look at him.. He's not wearing anything outrageous, just a pair of jeans with a grey button-up open showing a white v neck tee. His hair is a little messier than usual, and I could smell the alcohol on his breath, but he's not drunk. He's had one beer tops.

"Wait what?' he says staring at me up and down slowly. Oh my god, did Jackson just check me out? It takes me a moment to realise his confusion.

"You didn't know that I was me?" I say laughing. "You mean you actually try that half assed pick up line on random girls? And they fall for it?" For some reason I can't stop laughing, and Percy just stands there with his arms crossed.

"Well in my defence you don't have your usual cat lady cardigan and mom jeans on, plus I could only see you from behind." He says exasperatedly.

I quirk an eyebrow at him,

"Well then I must have a pretty good behind if the Percy Jackson only sees my backside and decides he must have me." He rolls his eyes at me, but he's smiling. "I always knew that this day would come, when Percy Jackson could no longer deny his undenying love for me. I pity you, I really do since I would rather marry a skunk than have any sort of romantic encounter with you."

He shakes his head as I smile at him. Okay, that's a pretty big lie. You wouldn't exactly have to twist my arm for me to kiss Jackson, but he doesn't need to know that.

"You're a real weirdo you know that Chase?"

"So I've been told."

"You know," he says over the music, "my offer still stands. I mean we won't do what I was planning to do after with you but we can still dance." I look at him like he has three heads, waiting for him to say gotcha! He doesn't though.

"You're not serious?" I say to him.

"As the plague. Don't get any ideas though. I've seen a couple guys looking at you and I'm not big fans of them so I really just want to piss them off."

I look at him puzzled.

"What do you mean they were looking at me? Looking at me how?"

"Nevermind," he says. "You coming or not?"

I bite my lip, I mean he doesn't actually want to dance with me, he just wants to piss off some perverts, so what's the problem? It's just dancing. Before I can talk myself out of it I grab his hand and we enter into the mess of people. He keeps his arm around my waist so that we don't get separated until he finds us a spot. The song's fast and upbeat, and I'm not really sure what to do. Jackson senses this and whispers in my ear,

"Put your arms around me neck."

Now normally I'd start arguing with him because he can't tell me what to do, but I have no idea what I'm doing and he's probably some kind of expert or something so I'm not really in any position to disagree. I hesitantly put my arms around his neck, and then he pulls me in close to him.

"Watch where you put your hands," I say into his ear.

"Relax," is all he says. That's not very reassuring. "Just follow my lead okay?" I nod at him as he begins to sway his hips to the beat of the music, and I follow his lead. Before I know it I'm so lost in the music that everything fades away a bit. I don't know how long we dance for, a couple songs at least, but suddenly I remember that Jason said they were leaving around 1am.

"Crap," I say looking around the room for the nearest clock. "Do you know what time it is?" I ask Percy. He leans in close to reply and a small shiver goes up my spine.

"Quarter after one I think," he says. I can smell his breath. "Why?" He asks, his eyebrows furrowing. He looks cute when he does that. God snap out of it Annabeth, you need to find Jason not oogle at Jackson!

"I gotta go," I say hurriedly, pushing through the crowds of people making my way to the front door. I expect Jackson to find some other girl to torment, but instead he follows me out.

"Have you seen Jason anywhere?" I ask him as I get my bag out of the closet. I see that Piper's coat is gone, they've probably left without me.

"He left with Thalia and Piper a little while ago," he says running his fingers through his hair.

"Great," I say massaging my temples with my fingers. I ruffle through my bag trying to find my phone. "Hold this," I say passing my book to Percy.

"Chase you did not bring a book to a party," he says shaking my head. I shush him as I pull my phone out of my bag. I scroll through my contacts until I find Jason's number, tapping the call button beside his name, then pressing my phone to my ear. It rings a couple times before he answers.

"Hello?" I hear his voice over the phone.

"Thanks for leaving me at the Stoll's party Jason," I say angrily. I hear a string of curses coming from the other line.

"Crap Annabeth I'm sorry. Thalia was complaining about her stomach hurting then she passed out for a minute so Piper and I are on our way to taking her to the hospital."

I put my hand over my mouth as my eyes widen. Jackson looks at me quizzically, still holding my book, but I ignore him.

"Oh my god is she alright?" I say worriedly.

"Yeah," Jason replies reassuringly. "I think so. She probably just had a little too much to drink but I'm bringing her to the ER to make sure it isn't something more serious."

"Okay," I say to him.

"I can drop Thalia off at the hospital with Piper then come back and get you. I'm going to be a little while, there's some forms to fill out and isn't there supposed to be a family member-"

I cut him off quickly.

"Jason it's fine. I'll find a way home okay? Stay with Thalia and keep me posted."

I hear a pause before Jason speaks.

"Okay Annabeth, I'm really sorry for leaving you. Let me know when you're home okay?"

"Yeah sure, it's not your fault. I gotta go," I say, hanging up the phone before he can respond.

"What happened?" Percy says looking at me carefully. I take my book back from him before shoving it back into my bag.

"Jason had to take Thalia to the hospital and left me here," I say as I look for any cash to get a cab home.

"Is she okay?" he asks his eyes widening.

"Yeah Jason thinks so, but he's just taking her as a safety precaution," I respond. I have twelve dollars and a Dave and Buster's token. I'll probably get to the end of the Stoll's driveway on that.

"Okay so how are you getting home?" he asks.

"I don't know," I say shrugging my shoulders. "Silena and Beckendorf went off god knows where and Katie and Travis are probably doing it in a flower bed right now so they aren't an option. I have no money for a cab and I can't call an uber because then my mom will know that I lied and-"

"Okay," Jackson says cutting me off. He then turns around and walks away. I stare at his retreating figure for a minute, my mouth slightly agape.

"Thanks for your help!" I yell at him sarcastically. "Asshole," I mumble under my breath.

"I don't tolerate that type of language at my parties Annie." I turn around to see the other half of the Stoll twins, while Connor lazily clutches a red cup. He looks me up and down slowly, and I scowl at him.

"I'm not in the mood Connor," I say pushing past him to try and find someone to drive me home. He grabs my arm and I turn around. "What?" I ask. I'm really not in the mood for Connor's one sided flirting.

"I heard you need a ride and I thought that I could be of assistance," he says smirking, as he moves a little closer to me. I can smell the alcohol on his breath, and he can barely stand up straight. He's definitely not in any condition to drive.

"Yeah I'm good," I say trying to shake his hand off. His grip tightens and panic starts to rise inside of me.

"Annabeth come on-" he says moving closer towards me.

"She said no Connor," a voice says from beside me. I look up to see that Percy's standing beside me, scowling deeply. "And I'm driving her home anyways. So why don't you go back to dry humping a grandfather clock." I furrow my eyebrows, confused. He just winks at me stepping a little closer. I can smell his scent, it's sweet and smells a little bit salty, not like sweat but something else.

Connor nods his head, hurrying back to the party, obviously knowing better than to argue with Percy.

"Thanks," I say looking down at my feet. I don't want to look up at him, my cheeks heating up a little.

"Yeah whatever," he says. I look up at him, scowling at his lack of manners. "Well are you coming?" he asks. I look up at him, my eyes narrowing.

"You were serious?" I ask tilting my head a little.

"Yeah," he says exasperatedly. "I have a swim meet later tomorrow so I need to get going anyways. Plus I'm pretty sure I live close to you, so it's not a big deal. Don't think I'm doing this out of the kindness of my heart Chase. I just don't want you annoying everybody here because you're complaining about having no one to take you home." He says opening the door. A cold air blows in, and I shiver. I should have brought a jacket or something. It's almost October.

"You've been drinking, I could smell the alcohol on your breath," I say avoiding his gaze.

He rolls his green eyes and I raise a blonde eyebrow.

"Earlier this girl and I were - nevermind," he says waving a hand dismissively. My cheeks heat up at the thought of him and another girl, thankfully he chose to gloss over it. "Anyways I haven't had a drop. I have a meet tomorrow; I can't be hungover."

I nod at him, trying to think of some other reason to not go with him. I can't though, and I swallow, though I have nothing in my mouth.

"Are you sure?" I ask. He's kidding. He wouldn't drive me home. He hates me, right?

"Yes now come on before I change my mind," he says walking out the door. I take one last look around the party, before following him out.

The sky is completely black, except for the abundance of glowing stars illuminating it.

"It's pretty out here," I say as we weave through the parked cars towards Percy's. "You can't see any stars in the city."

Percy turns around to look at me for a second, before looking forward again trying to find his car.

"Yeah, they're pretty," he says. I look up at the sky again, the stars winking at me from millions of miles away.

We keep walking, the Stoll's driveway feeling longer and longer.

"Are we walking home or driving?" I say to Percy sarcastically.

"Shut up," he responds, not turning around. I stick my tongue out at him, even though he can't see.

Finally Percy clicks his keys and I hear a car honk, lights flashing to the right of me. I follow him over to where he's standing.

"This is your car?" I say disbelieved. I'm standing in front of a dark blue porsche. This vehicle probably costs as much as my tuition to university for at least two years.

"Yeah, that's why I'm standing in front of it," he says before going over to the passenger side and opening my door.

"Oh thanks," I say sliding in my seat. Who knew Jackson actually had manners?

'Yeah, you're welcome," he says before sliding into the driver's seat. I lean to the side, my head pressed lightly against the window. Percy starts the car and the engine hums to life, the smooth rumbling dying down to a low growl as he drives down the rest of the driveway and out the gates.

We sit in silence, Percy focusing intensely on the road in front of him. I let out a small yawn, not realising until now how late it is. I'm not going to get home until after two. After about five minutes of driving Percy's still made no effort at conversation. I sigh trying to think of something to say to break the slowly growing tension, but I can't. This is going to be a long ride home.

Eventually I can't take the lack of exchange between us, so I speak up.

"Can I ask you a question?" I say sitting up in my seat.

"Shoot."

I raise my eyebrows, surprised that he said yes. I thought he would say something along the lines of "shut up Chase I'm trying to drive do you want to get us into an accident?" and then we would go back to the never ending silence.

"Why are you driving me home?" I say looking at his hands as he clutches the wheels lazily. He has nice hands, I never noticed that before…

"I already told you, I was leaving anyways and-"

"Yeah I know you said that already," I say slightly annoyed. "But you could have just left me. This is probably at least a bit of an inconvenience for you, and you hate me. You said so earlier today. I thought that after our argument you would love to see me so distressed."

"What are you trying to say Chase?" He says looking over at me for a second before he quickly reverts his gaze to the traffic ahead. For a second I swear his eyes flickered to my lips, but I must have imagined it. I'm pretty tired, probably just wishful thinking or something.

I take a deep breath before responding.

"I'm just trying to say that we're basically the definition of arch enemies. So why do something nice for me?" I say, trying to convey what I really want to say without outright saying it. Does he really hate me?

"Because you needed a ride home and I have a car," he says avoiding my question. That still doesn't explain why he would give me a ride home. Normally he would delight at seeing me so distressed, so what's changed?

"But you hate me," I say again. "I thought that you said you never wanted to see me again? I thought you would want to get rid of me and see me suffer the first chance you had. Yet here you are offering to drive me home like some knight in shining armour." I smile at this. Percy Jackson is anything but a knight in shining armour type.

He sighs before looking at me. He takes one hand off the wheel before resting it in the console, his palm open to the sky. It would be so easy to slide my hand into his, all I would have to do was move a few inches, but I don't. I stare directly out at the traffic, my heart beating so loud I can hear the blood pulsing in my ears.

"Annabeth," he says slowly. My eyes widen. He's never called me Annabeth. Not once. "Even if I wanted to get rid of you I couldn't. You're not exactly easy to forget about."

I'm hallucinating. That's it, I'm imagining this entire thing. The party never happened, and I'm dreaming. That's the only explanation for this. Percy Jackson, my arch enemy, the supposed bane of my existence didn't just give me the most cryptic answer in the history of most cryptic answers of all time. "Even if I wanted to get rid of you," what does that even mean? That he doesn't want me out of his life? Does that mean he doesn't hate me? Then what about "You're not exactly easy to forget about," mean? Does he think about me? I mull over his words, so lost in thought that I don't notice when he speaks up.

"Chase!" I jump a little in surprise, looking at him. He gives me a small smirk before shaking his head. "Where do I turn?" He says gesturing to the roads ahead of us.

"Left," I say nodding my head in that direction. I continue to tell him where to go, until we turn onto my street.

"It's this one," I say pointing to my house. I decided not to go back to Thalia's. No one is going to be there, and besides, all I want now is the comfort of my bed.

"Nice house," he says, pulling into a parking spot in front of the brownstone house.

"Thanks," I say. He taps his hands on the steering wheel for a minute while I fiddle with my seat belt.

"Do you want to come in for a minute?" I ask nervously. I don't expect him to say yes or anything, I'm just being polite. He probably has to get home or-

"Yeah sure," he says unbuckling his seatbelt. I raise my eyebrows slightly shocked.

I quickly get out of the car, Percy trailing behind me as I walk up the steps. I stand in front of the door for a second before finding my keys and unlocking it. The big oak door swings open when I push the handle, and Percy follows me inside. I throw my purse onto the side table in the doorway before walking into the livingroom.

"Do you want a drink or something?" I ask him. He's standing in front of the fireplace, looking at the pictures on it.

"Sure, I'll have whatever you're having," he says not taking his gaze off the photos. Great, let's hope that Athena took down the picture of me holding up my first place trophy at the math competition in sixth grade. I seriously don't want to hear Jackson's comments on that.

After a minute I return to the livingroom, where Percy's holding a silver frame in his hands.

"You went to Africa?" He asks, looking up at me. I blush a little.

"Yeah," I say, taking the frame out of his hands. It's a picture of me from the summer, petting an elephant. "I volunteered in Kenya this summer, and went to an elephant sanctuary afterwards to help out there." I place the picture back onto the mantle smiling at the little smudge mark on the corner of the picture, proof that Percy was here. Athena will wipe it off as soon as she sees it, but for now it's there, a mistake in the otherwise immaculate house. It's a symbol, Jackson is and will always be out of place in my life.

"Really?" he says, his eyes lighting up. "That's pretty cool." I smile at him, heat rising to my cheeks.

"Thanks." I hand him a coke, and he opens it. His Adam's apple bobs as he gulps it down. He stops drinking, swallowing.

"Do you like to travel?" he asks, sitting down on the couch.

"I love it," I say, sitting beside him. "I feel like if I just stay here then I'm missing out on so much you know? Like there's this whole world with a plethora of different people and cultures that I'm missing out on."

He's staring at me now, and I bite my lip nervously. I'm rambling again, he's probably realised what a nerd I am and is trying to come up with the quickest way out of here. To my surprise, he doesn't.

"Yeah I agree," he says quietly. "It feels so small here, like everyone is looking in on me and I need to get out, to go somewhere where no one knows my name."

I smile at him sadly. I always thought that he loved it here, where he's treated like a god. Everything is handed to him, what could he possibly have to run from?

He notices that I'm not saying anything, I'm just staring at him and his eyes widen.

"I gotta get going, it's pretty late. Thanks for the drink," he says handing me the empty can. I set both of our drinks down on the glass coffee table.

"Yeah of course," I say leading him to the front door. A knot begins to form in my stomach. I don't want him to leave, I want him to stay and keep talking with me. It's selfish, he needs to get home, but I can't help it. Percy showed me a new side to him, a side I'd never seen before. He showed me someone that I didn't hate. Someone capable of loving.

"Thanks again for the ride," I say leaning against the wall. "I seriously owe you one."

"Well in that case I've got some math homework that-" I roll my eyes, as he fishes his keys out of his pocket.

"In your dreams," I say opening the door for him. I stand outside on the top steps. It's cold out, but it doesn't bother me.

"Thanks again for driving me," I say. He nods.

"You're welcome." We stand there for a minute, and I'm unsure what to do. Do I hug him, kiss him on the cheek, give him a hearty handshake? I settle for a small smile.

"See you around Jackson?" I say, though it comes out as more of a question than a statement. He winks at me, and I feel my knees growing weak.

"Bye Chase."

He walks down the stairs two at a time, and I step back inside closing the door. From the window I watch him as he heads to his car. My head's spinning from everything that's happened tonight, like everything I thought that I knew was blown away in the wind. I'm starting from scratch. As I peer out the window I see him beginning to turn around, and I quickly step out of view, my hand clutching my chest as my heart beats out of control. Slowly I poke my head out so it's visible. Percy's looking at the door, biting his lip as though he's trying to decide something. My breaths get shorter and quicker as I wait for him to decide to come back in. He doesn't though, he shakes his head and turns around. He then gets into his car, before driving off into the night.

I run my fingers through my hair stressfully, trying to comprehend what's happened this entire night. Jackson confuses me, one minute acting like he wants me to burn in hell, then the next he cares for my safety and well being. It could be an act, I tell myself. But what's the point? Why would he lead me on? To make sure that I have feelings for him, then expose me to everyone? No, I'm being paranoid. He probably just felt bad about what he said earlier, I mean we both said some pretty awful things. I still feel guilty. None of this helps though, I'm still confused and angry, and tired. Tired of having to sort out my feelings for him and to justify the way I feel. I'm trying to get everything to make sense, but it doesn't. Though maybe it shouldn't? People always talk about how confusing love is. Is it possible that I'm falling for him more than I thought? I shake my head, no I don't love him, not yet anyways. I could though. But what about Luke? I hadn't seen him in years, and he just pops back into my life like that. It's got to mean something, but what?

I'm so tired though, too tired to try and sort out the mess of thoughts and emotions that are swirling around in my head. In the morning it will all make sense, it'll have to. I tell myself this as I head upstairs to my room, my eyelids growing heavier by the second.

I quickly strip my clothes and change into some comfortable clothes. I look in the mirror at myself. My hair has started to frizz and my makeup is a little smudged. I scowl at the reflection in front of me before wiping everything off. With the cosmetics off my face looks hollowed, the dark circles under my eyes showing exactly how much sleep I've been getting. Very little. I crawl in between the covers of my bed, relishing in their warmth.

"It'll all make sense in the morning," I murmur to myself, as my eyelids become too heavy for me to keep open. I repeat this to myself as I sink into sleep. Tonight I'm confused, but tomorrow I'll be okay. It'll all be okay in the morning.

 **A/N: So what did you think? Did you guys like it? I told you I'd introduce some Percabeth this chapter, but not everything is going to go their way. Luke's back in town! As the chapters go on he's going to be more introduced and he's going to play a key part in the storyline. The next couple chapters are really going to heat up before I basically drop a bomb and all hell breaks loose. So enjoy the calm before the storm! Anyways thanks so much guys for reading it means so much! Make sure to follow this story so you can get alerts of when I update. Also review to tell me what you think. Until next time!**

 **-Xoxo RedHeadReader22**


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